St. Louis @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 16, 2012 ) St. Louis 5, LA Dodgers 2

The St. Louis Cardinals enter the opener of their three-game series against the host Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday with the best record in the major leagues. The Cardinals are a half-game better than the Texas Rangers at 30-16 after taking two of three from the San Diego Padres earlier in the week. They haven’t lost a series since April 26-28, when they dropped the final two contests of a three-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Dodgers are coming off a series win versus the Milwaukee Brewers. They haven’t strung together three straight wins since sweeping the Pirates from April 5-7.

Los Angeles' Andre Ethier is hitting .309 against right-handers in his career but just .263 this season. He has a .265 average versus left-handers this year, 26 points better than his career mark. Ethier received the day off against Brewers right-hander Wily Peralta on Wednesday, and his replacement, Scott Van Slyke, doubled twice in the 9-2 victory. The Cardinals should have third baseman David Freese back in the lineup after he missed the last two games with a thumb injury.

TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (6-1, 3.27 ERA) vs. Dodgers LH Chris Capuano (1-2, 4.84)

Lynn is one of the reasons the Cardinals are off to such a hot start, pitching at least seven innings in five of his eight outings and allowing three earned runs or fewer six times. He made two starts against the Dodgers last season, both on the road. He threw six innings and got the win in a 2-1 victory on September 13, giving up a run-scoring double by Adrian Gonzalez in the first before settling down. Lynn also went six innings last May but didn’t get the decision as the Dodgers scored in the bottom of the ninth to win 6-5. He allowed four runs and nine hits in that contest.

Capuano has strung together two excellent starts. He pitched well enough to beat the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, allowing one run and five hits in 7 1/3 innings while not walking a batter. The Cardinals are a familiar team to Capuano as he played for the National League Central-rival Brewers from 2004-2010. He has made 16 career starts against St. Louis, going 5-6 with a 5.83 ERA. The veteran faced the Cardinals twice last season and lasted only 4 1/3 innings in both starts, yielding six runs and 11 hits in a 7-4 loss in July before surrendering four runs and seven hits in an 8-5 Dodgers victory two months later.

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis OF Matt Holliday is 10-for-27 lifetime against Capuano with two home runs.

2. Cardinals 2B Daniel Descalso has six RBIs in his last two games. He collected seven in his first 29 contests.

3. Dodgers 2B Mark Ellis has a .212 career average against St. Louis.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 5, Cardinals 4