The St. Louis Cardinals (52-47, 53-46 RL, 46-49-4 O/U) take on the Washington Nationals (34-66, 41-56 RL, 46-48-3 O/U) in the second of a three-game series on Saturday evening. The Cardinals will have Dakota Hudson on the mound looking to avoid a second consecutive defeat. The Nationals will reply with Erick Fedde.
The Cards will have Dakota Hudson make his 19th start of the season. Hudson was decent in his latest effort, conceding four runs on six hits in 6.2 innings against the Dodgers, and was hit with the loss to even his record at 6-6. The veteran right-hander has logged a poor 5.40 ERA this month and has posted a 4.10 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in 96.2 innings pitched on the season. Hudson has contained the Nationals in his career, recording a 2-1 record and a 2.93 ERA in 15.1 innings.
St. Louis is in the late stages of an eight-game road trip. They lost two of three in Cincinnati and earned one win in two meetings in Toronto this week. The Cards trail the Brewers by three games atop the division and this is viewed as a series they need to win against an inferior opponent.
The Cards need more production from Dylan Carls on. The 23-year-old right fielder only has seven RBIs this month but has collected three in his last three games. He now has six taters with 29 RBIs and a decent .751 OPS. Carlson went 5 for 18 with one RBI against the Nationals last season. Harrison Bader remains out of action.
The Cardinals are scoring an average of 4.59 runs, ranking them 10th overall. The pitching staff enters with a 3.87 team ERA, placing them 11th in the big leagues.