After playing 16 innings in the three-game series opener, the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals are back at Busch Field for an early evening affair. Los Angeles enters play four games back of the San Francisco Giants in the National League West.
The Dodgers do lead St. Louis by one game for the first NL Wild Card spot. Kenta Maeda takes the mound and looks to rebound from a tough start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He lasted only 4.1 innings while allowing five runs on seven hits.
Maeda is 8-7 with a 3.25 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 112 strikeouts this season. He’s yet to face the Cardinals in any of his 19 starts. A strong outing from Maeda would suit a tired Dodgers bullpen well.
Los Angeles did add a fresh arm on Saturday by recalling Ross Stripling from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
St. Louis counters with a right-hander of their own in Mike Leake, who has been superb as of late. In his last two starts, Leake is 2-0 while allowing just two runs with 21 strikeouts over 13 innings of work.
However, Leake has not been the starter the Cardinals believed they were getting when they signed him for five-year, $80 million contract in the offseason. On the year he’s 7-7 with a 4.00 ERA and 1.20 WHIP.
Leake faced the Dodgers on May 15 and allowed just one run in six innings to earn the win. The lineup he starts against the second time around is led by Howie Kendrick and Justin Turner. Both homered in Friday’s loss, and Kendrick owns a Major League-best 14-game hitting streak.
Kendrick is batting .404/.477/.614 with six doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs over the stretch that dates back to July 4. Turner is hitting .375/.459/.875 with five home runs and 12 RBIs in seven games since the All-Star break.
Corey Seager welcomed himself back after missing the past three games with a four-hit performance. He again bats second on Saturday. Andrew Toles starts in place of Yasiel Puig, who is battling right hamstring tightness.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
LF: Howie Kendrick
C: Yasmani Grandal
RF: Andrew Toles
CF: Joc Pederson
P: Kenta Maeda
Cardinals lineup:
2B: Greg Garcia
SS: Aledmys Diaz
RF: Stephen Piscotty
1B: Matt Adams
3B: Jedd Gyorko
LF: Jeremy Hazelbaker
CF: Randal Grichuk
C: Alberto Rosario
P: Mike Leake
