Los Angeles @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 18, 2014 ) LA Dodgers 2, St. Louis 3

Matt Holliday looks to continue a recent surge when he leads the host St. Louis Cardinals into the second of three straight against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. Holliday's sluggish first half was one reason the Cardinals were slow to get going in 2014, but he has shown signs of turning it around. The left fielder hit a two-run homer and doubled in a run in St. Louis' 3-2 win in the series opener and is 8-for-20 with five extra-base hits in his last six games.

The Cardinals have won six of eight overall and remain a game behind first-place Milwaukee in the National League Central. The Dodgers, meanwhile, fell back into a tie atop the NL West with Friday's loss, percentage points behind San Francisco. They have scored three runs or fewer in six straight contests, including a total of five over their last three games.

TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX, SNLA (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Zack Greinke (11-5, 2.73 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Joe Kelly (1-1, 3.44)

Greinke last pitched July 9 at Detroit, allowing three runs in seven innings but did strike out two in a scoreless frame during Tuesday's All-Star Game in Minnesota. Since a rocky outing at Kansas City on June 23, he has gone 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA in three starts while recording 26 strikeouts against two walks in 22 innings. Included in that run was a gem versus St. Louis at home on June 28, when he yielded a run on four hits in seven innings with 10 strikeouts to improve to 9-3 all-time against the Cardinals.

Kelly will be making his second start since coming off the disabled list due to a hamstring strain. His first outing since the injury did not go well, as Milwaukee got to him for six runs and seven hits in three innings in a game St. Louis would rally to win 7-6. Kelly did not allow an earned run in six innings in his only home start this year and owns a 2.98 ERA in 34 games (19 starts) in his career at Busch Stadium.

WALK-OFFS

1. Holliday is just 6-for-23 against Greinke, but two of the hits are homers.

2. Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong is 9-for-26 with four home runs and two doubles during a seven-game hitting streak.

3. Los Angeles is 10-20 at the new Busch Stadium since it opened in 2006.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 4, Cardinals 3