St. Louis @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 6, 2014 ) St. Louis 1, Toronto 3

Toronto's Mark Buehrle - the only 10-game winner in the majors - tries to continue his torrid start when the Blue Jays host the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday in the middle contest of a three-game series. Toronto prevailed in the opener 3-1 for its sixth straight victory - and 15th in its last 17 games - while hitting two homers to increase its major league-leading total to 89. "These guys are putting up some pretty radical numbers," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny told reporters.

Shelby Miller takes the ball after losing his last three starts for St. Louis, which has dropped eight of its last 10 games and is 2-6 in interleague play. Toronto has ridden the big bats of Edwin Encarnacion (19 home runs - second in the majors, 50 RBIs), Jose Bautista (15, 44) and Melky Cabrera (10, 33) to a six-game lead in the American League East, and Brett Lawrie (11, 36) has joined the fray with three home runs and five RBIs in his last four contests. The Cardinals, who are five games behind Milwaukee in the National League Central, have only one active starter hitting .300 (Matt Carpenter, .302).

TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), SNET (Toronto)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Shelby Miller (6-5, 4.06 ERA) vs. Mark Buehrle (10-1, 2.10)

Miller pitched six shutout innings before yielding four runs in the next inning-plus en route to a 6-0 loss to Kansas City on Monday. Matheny told reporters the 23-year-old Texan, who recorded a 7.94 ERA over his last three turns, was "very, very good - for six innings. After the sixth ... it just snowballed in a hurry. But up to that point, it’s one of the best (games) we’ve seen him throw this season.” Miller has never faced Toronto and is 2-4 with 6.62 ERA in seven interleague outings.

Buehrle yielded six hits over eight innings in Toronto's 4-0 victory over Kansas City on Sunday, but thought he was lucky to win his third straight start and sixth decision in a row. "It was one of those games where I could have gotten my butt handed to me," the 35-year-old Missouri native told reporters. "I was making mistakes and they weren't making me pay for it." Buehrle, who is 28-9 with a 3.26 ERA in 48 interleague games, has a 1.19 WHIP with a fastball that reaches only into low 80s.

WALK-OFFS

1. Bautista has 167 home runs since the start of 2010 - tied for the most in the majors with Detroit 1B Miguel Cabrera.

2. St. Louis 2B Kolten Wong (left shoulder) did not play Friday and Matheny said he may miss the series.

3. Encarnacion on Friday returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's game with a back injury and went 1-for-4 as the designated hitter.

PREDICTION: Blue Jays 3, Cardinals 2