Houston takes on St. Louis following Cole's strong outing
Houston Astros (67-39, first in the AL West) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (56-48, first in the AL Central)
St. Louis; Sunday, 2:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Wade Miley (8-4, 3.18 ERA) Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (10-4, 3.61 ERA)
LINE: Astros favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Houston heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Gerrit Cole. Cole pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits with seven strikeouts against St. Louis.
The Cardinals are 29-21 on their home turf. The St. Louis pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.13, Dakota Hudson paces the staff with a mark of 3.61.
The Astros have gone 29-24 away from home. Houston has an MLB-leading team on-base percentage of .344. Alex Bregman leads the club with an OBP of .392. The Astros won the last meeting 8-2. Gerrit Cole recorded his 12th victory and Carlos Correa went 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs for Houston. Daniel Ponce de Leon registered his first loss for St. Louis.
TOP PERFORMERS: Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 24 home runs and has 57 RBIs. Paul DeJong is 11-for-34 with five doubles, five home runs and 13 RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
Bregman leads the Astros with 26 home runs home runs and is slugging .520. Yuli Gurriel has 15 hits and is batting .385 over the last 10 games for Houston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 8-2, .254 batting average, 4.90 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runs
Astros: 8-2, .264 batting average, 2.08 ERA, outscored opponents by 36 runs
Cardinals Injuries: Jordan Hicks: 60-day IL (elbow), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm), Marcell Ozuna: 10-day IL (hand), Jedd Gyorko: 10-day IL (back), Matt Carpenter: 10-day IL (foot), Yadier Molina: 10-day IL (thumb).
Astros Injuries: Ryan Pressly: day-to-day (knee), Brad Peacock: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-day IL (elbow), Josh James: 10-day IL (shoulder).
