Houston Astros (8-9, third in the AL West) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (8-9, fourth in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Wednesday, 1:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Ronel Blanco (1-1, 6.94 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 16 strikeouts); Cardinals: Steven Matz (0-0, 2.31 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, six strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -115, Cardinals -104; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros meet on Wednesday with the winner claiming the three-game series.
St. Louis has an 8-9 record overall and a 7-4 record at home. The Cardinals have hit 19 total home runs to rank 10th in the majors.
Houston has a 4-4 record on the road and an 8-9 record overall. Astros pitchers have a collective 3.70 ERA, which ranks seventh in the AL.
The teams square off Wednesday for the third time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Lars Nootbaar has three doubles, two home runs and seven RBI for the Cardinals. Ivan Herrera is 4-for-14 with four home runs over the past 10 games.
Jose Altuve has a double, three home runs and seven RBI for the Astros. Isaac Paredes is 13-for-42 with three home runs and seven RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 4-6, .265 batting average, 3.85 ERA, outscored by six runs
Astros: 5-5, .236 batting average, 4.09 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
INJURIES: Cardinals: Masyn Winn: 10-Day IL (back), Ivan Herrera: 10-Day IL (foot), Zack Thompson: 60-Day IL (lat)
Astros: Brendan Rodgers: day-to-day (hip), Spencer Arrighetti: 15-Day IL (thumb), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shawn Dubin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Forrest Whitley: 15-Day IL (knee), J.P. France: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Taylor Trammell: 10-Day IL (calf), Kaleb Ort: 15-Day IL (oblique), Pedro Leon: 10-Day IL (knee), Lance McCullers Jr.: 15-Day IL (forearm)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
