St. Louis hosts New York, looks to build on Mikolas' solid performance
New York Mets (11-9, second in the NL East) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (11-9, third in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Sunday, 2:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Noah Syndergaard (1-1, 5.63 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 29 strikeouts) Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (1-1, 6.08 ERA, 2.18 WHIP, 13 strikeouts)
LINE: Mets favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Both New York and St. Louis are looking to win the series with a victory.
The Cardinals are 6-3 in home games. St. Louis has hit 33 home runs this season, sixth in the league. Paul Goldschmidt leads the club with eight, averaging one every 10.1 at-bats.
The Mets are 9-6 in road games. New York has a collective on-base percentage of .345, good for third in the National League. Jeff McNeil leads the team with a mark of .453. The Cardinals won the last meeting 10-2. Miles Mikolas earned his second victory and Jose Martinez went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs for St. Louis. Chris Flexen registered his first loss for New York.
TOP PERFORMERS: Paul DeJong leads the Cardinals with 14 extra base hits and is batting .329. Marcell Ozuna is 11-for-35 with two doubles, seven home runs and 13 RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
Pete Alonso leads the Mets with 14 extra base hits and has 18 RBIs. McNeil has 17 hits and is batting .415 over the last 10 games for New York.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 6-4, .291 batting average, 4.66 ERA, outscored opponents by 17 runs
Mets: 5-5, .254 batting average, 6.31 ERA, outscored by 16 runs
Cardinals Injuries: Mike Mayers: 10-day IL (shoulder), Carlos Martinez: 10-day IL (shoulder), Luke Gregerson: 10-day IL (shoulder), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm), Justin Williams: 10-day IL (hand), Tyler O'Neill: 10-day IL (arm), Harrison Bader: 10-day IL (hamstring), Matt Carpenter: day-to-day (knee).
Mets Injuries: Drew Smith: 10-day IL (elbow), Jacob deGrom: 10-day IL (elbow), Yoenis Cespedes: 10-day IL (heels), Jed Lowrie: 10-day IL (knee), Todd Frazier: 10-day IL (oblique).
