St. Louis @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 27, 2014 ) St. Louis 3, LA Dodgers 1

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals have plenty of high-priced offensive talent, but the first two games of the series have been marked by strong pitching performances. Each staff took a turn getting the better of the other and the Dodgers will attempt to grab control of the four-game series when they host the Cardinals on Saturday. The teams combined for a total of five runs in the first two contests.

Josh Beckett outdueled Adam Wainwright in a 1-0 victory in Thursday’s opener, but it was the St. Louis bullpen doing most of the work in a 3-1 triumph in Friday’s tilt. The loss was only the third in the last 11 games for Los Angeles, which is allowing an average of 2.2 runs in those 11 contests. The Cardinals used an opportunistic offense that led the league in batting average with runners in scoring position to reach the World Series last season, but are leaning more on the staff in 2014 as the offense struggles to find any consistency.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, FOX

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (8-5, 2.90 ERA) vs. Dodgers RH Zack Greinke (9-4, 2.89)

Lynn held the opposition scoreless for the third time in six starts at Colorado on Monday, when he scattered three hits and did not walk a batter in eight frames to earn the win. The 27-year-old presided over a 1-0 victory over Washington on June 13 but lost to the Mets in between while allowing two runs in six frames. Lynn earned a pair of wins over Los Angeles in the playoffs last season, allowing a total of two runs in 7 1/3 frames.

Greinke got knocked around by his former team on Monday, when he was reached for five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings to suffer a loss at Kansas City. That marked the second time this month that the 30-year-old allowed 11 hits in a start, and he is just 1-3 in June. Greinke started twice against St. Louis in the playoffs last fall and gave up two runs in each turn, picking up one win.

WALK-OFFS

1. Dodgers 2B Dee Gordon is 8-for-12 in the last three games to boost his average to .292.

2. St. Louis SS Jhonny Peralta has hit safely in eight straight games and has nine RBIs in that span.

3. Los Angeles OF Andre Ethier (knee, right palm) is fighting through a series of injuries and did not start on Friday.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2