Dodgers host Cardinals, look to build on Kershaw's solid performance
St. Louis Cardinals (58-54, second in the NL Central) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (76-40, first in the NL West)
Los Angeles; Wednesday, 3 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Jack Flaherty (5-6, 3.93 ERA) Dodgers: Dustin May (0-1, 4.77 ERA)
LINE: Dodgers favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Los Angeles heads into the matchup fresh off a strong showing by Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw pitched seven innings, surrendering one run on four hits with nine strikeouts against St. Louis.
The Dodgers are 45-15 on their home turf. Los Angeles has hit 192 combined home runs this season, most in the National League. Cody Bellinger leads the club with 37, averaging one every 10.8 at-bats.
The Cardinals are 27-31 on the road. The St. Louis pitching staff owns a team ERA of 4.11, Adam Wainwright leads the staff with a mark of 4.42. The Dodgers won the last meeting 3-1. Clayton Kershaw earned his 11th victory and Justin Turner went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for Los Angeles. Miles Mikolas took his 12th loss for St. Louis.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bellinger leads the Dodgers with 128 hits and has 88 RBIs. Matt Beaty is 8-for-28 with five doubles and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Los Angeles.
Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 25 home runs home runs and is slugging .465. Kolten Wong has 12 hits and is batting .375 over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Dodgers: 7-3, .235 batting average, 3.78 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs
Cardinals: 3-7, .228 batting average, 4.19 ERA, outscored by 18 runs
Dodgers Injuries: Ross Stripling: 10-day IL (neck), Hyun-Jin Ryu: 10-day IL (neck), Rich Hill: 60-day IL (left forearm), Scott Alexander: 60-day IL (forearm), Alex Verdugo: 10-day IL (back), Kike Hernandez: 10-day IL (hand), Chris Taylor: 10-day IL (forearm), Jedd Gyorko: 60-day IL (back), David Freese: 10-day IL (hamstring).
Cardinals Injuries: Jordan Hicks: 60-day IL (elbow), Tony Cingrani: 60-day IL (shoulder), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm), Tyler O'Neill: 10-day IL (wrist), Yadier Molina: 10-day IL (thumb).
