The St. Louis Cardinals fought hard during a difficult schedule stretch to remain on the edge of the National League wild-card race.
The Cardinals twice took two of three games from the Milwaukee Brewers. They also took two of three games from the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins, and they managed a four-game split against the San Diego Padres.
Now they push ahead into a six-game homestand that begins Friday night with the opener of a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners.
The Cardinals (71-69) have won six of their past eight games while the Mariners (71-70) won their last two games by the combined score of 22-7.
“They’ve bought in. They’re committed,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of his players after they pulled out a 3-2, 10-inning victory in Milwaukee on Wednesday. “We’re going to take our best shot. We’re just going to stay present, and the guys did a nice job of staying present today, and you look up after the game is over and you’ve got a nice ‘W.’ Now, we come back and get ready for the homestand.”
St. Louis sits five games off the last NL playoff position with 22 games to go.
The Cardinals have extended more playing time to younger players down the stretch, including Luken Baker, who is getting reps at designated hitter and as a pinch hitter against left-handed pitching after hitting 32 homers for Triple-A Memphis this season.
He delivered the game-winning pinch hit in the 10th inning on Wednesday, giving him at least one RBI in six straight games.
“You have to score runs to win games, and if my job is to hit with runners in scoring position or go up there and hit a solo homer, the job is to score runs,” Baker said. “So, the more I can drive in runs for this team, the better.”
St. Louis will open the set with Erick Fedde (8-8, 3.43 ERA) on the mound. The right-hander took a 6-3 loss to the New York Yankees on Aug. 30 after permitting four runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
While pitching for the Chicago White Sox this season, Fedde was 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA in two starts against the Mariners. In the second of those outings, on July 27, the Mariners tagged him for three runs on six hits, including a Jorge Polanco homer, in four innings.
Fedde is 0-3 with a 3.38 ERA in four career starts against Seattle.
The Mariners moved within 4 1/2 games of the American League West-leading Houston Astros with the Thursday victory. The recent offensive surge came against the Oakland A’s after Seattle had lost its previous four games.
The Mariners will open the weekend series by giving the ball to Bryce Miller (10-8, 3.30 ERA). The right-hander struggled with his command in his latest start, a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
Miller went to a three-ball count six times and he needed 91 pitches to get 14 outs. He allowed three runs on four hits, three walks and a hit batter in 4 2/3 innings while struggling to locate his fastball.
“Just got to get that back dialed in and we’ll be good to go,” Miller said. “It was a hot day. I had a couple splitters that slipped out, too. Weird game.”
Prior to that game, Miller was 2-0 with a 2.22 ERA in five August starts and 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four July outings.
This will be Miller’s first career appearance against the Cardinals.
–Field Level Media