The St. Louis Cardinals (10-16) will be trying to pick up their second road series win of the season when they face the Los Angeles Dodgers (13-13) in the second game of their three-game series on Saturday night.
Jordan Montgomery, 2-3, 3.81 ERA, will get the start for the Cardinals. The Dodgers will counter with Clayton Kershaw, 4-1, 2.32 ERA.
Los Angeles is 6-4 in its last 10 games against St. Louis.
**This preview was written before Friday’s game was played**
The Cardinals won the NL Central handily last season, but they are off to a poor start this year and they’ve lost five of their last seven games. They are currently at the bottom of the division, eight games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, who currently lead the division, and will try to climb out of the cellar with a win over the Dodgers, which will give them their third win in their last eight games.
St. Louis is averaging 4.50 runs per game. Their .269 batting average is fourth in the league. Their .342 on base percentage is third, while their .434 slugging percentage is seventh.
Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with a .302 batting average, while Nolan Gorman leads the team with six home runs and 22 RBI.
St. Louis’ pitching hasn’t been good, with the team giving up 4.69 runs per game. Opponents have a .272 batting average again st the Cardinals, which is 28th in the league. Their 4.41 ERA is 18th, while their 1.44 WHIP is 26th.
In his last start, Montgomery gave up five hits and one run in six innings, but they lost to San Francisco 4-0. They will need another solid start from him if they want to win this game.