New York @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 14, 2013 ) NY Mets 4, St. Louis 10
The St. Louis Cardinals have it all working as they put the majors’ best record on the line Wednesday at home in the third of a four-game set against the New York Mets. The Cardinals have won 10 of their 12 games in May in no small part because their hitting (a league-best .308 batting average this month) has caught up with their pitching (a league-low 3.06 ERA this season). No St. Louis pitcher has been better than Shelby Miller, who is coming off a one-hitter in his last start.
Miller struck out 13 and retired the final 27 batters he faced in that outing, numbers that do not bode well for the Mets, who have dropped five straight. New York is trending in the opposite direction as St. Louis and has not scored more than four runs in their last nine games. The Mets - who rank second-to-last in the National League in May with 39 runs – has lost 13 of their last 17 and find themselves a season-worst eight games under .500 (14-22).
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), Fox Sports Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Shaun Marcum (0-3, 8.59 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Shelby Miller (5-2, 1.58)
Marcum became the first pitcher in team history to last fewer than five innings over each of his first three starts after allowing six runs and nine hits in Friday’s 7-3 loss against Pittsburgh. Manager Terry Collins attributed his right-hander’s struggles to rushing back after beginning the season on the disabled list with a neck injury and right biceps tendinitis. Marcum is 1-1 with a 4.65 ERA in five all-time starts against St. Louis.
Miller did not walk a batter for the second time this season against Colorado last Friday and is allowing opposing hitters to bat only .125 against him while striking out 28 over 21 2/3 innings in his three home starts. The 22-year-old has also yielded no more than two runs in six of his seven outings, but has logged at least 106 pitches in each of his last three starts. Miller faced the Mets in his major-league debut last September, striking out four in two innings of relief.
WALK-OFFS
1. After scoring more than four runs 10 times through their first 19 games, New York has eclipsed that mark only twice in its last 17 games.
2. St. Louis is 19-2 when scoring more than three runs.
3. Mets’ starters are 1-6 with a 6.02 ERA over their last 12 games.
PREDICTION: Cardinals 8, Mets 1