St. Louis @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 27, 2013 ) St. Louis 0, Atlanta 2

The Atlanta Braves have lost veteran Tim Hudson for the rest of the season, but the remainder of the pitching staff has tied up the St. Louis Cardinals’ offense the past two games. The Braves host the Cardinals on Sunday night for the series finale after capturing the first two games of the series and holding the National League’s best hitting team to one run on six hits in 18 innings. Yadier Molina, Allen Craig and Matt Carpenter – all ranked in the top five in the NL in batting – are a combined 2-for-21 in the series.

Kris Medlen, who started and lost last year’s NL wild-card game to St. Louis, seeks to keep Atlanta’s mound dominance going against Shelby Miller, who aims for his 11th victory. The Braves have crushed opponents at home, owning a major league-best 33-15 mark. St. Louis, which got outfielder Matt Holliday (hamstring) back from the disabled list on Saturday, has lost seven of its last eight regular-season matchups with Atlanta.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, ESPN

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Shelby Miller (10-6, 2.77 ERA) vs. Braves RH Kris Medlen (6-10, 3.78).

Miller posted a 4.31 ERA in June, but is 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three July starts with 17 strikeouts in 17 innings. The right-hander whiffed six hitters in six innings to beat Philadelphia on Tuesday, allowing no runs on three hits. He has struggled on the road, going 4-4 with a 4.07 ERA as opposed to a 6-2 mark with a 1.74 ERA at home.

Medlen is the only member of the Atlanta rotation to start a postseason content, but the 27-year-old has struggled in his last three starts, going 0-3 with an 8.59 ERA. He won three in a row before dropping outings to the Phillies, Cincinnati and New York Mets, failing to last more than 5 1/3 innings in each start. The right-hander allowed four runs on seven hits in losing at New York on Tuesday.

WALK-OFFS

1. Atlanta 3B Chris Johnson recorded two hits Saturday, his 31st multi-hit game of the year, raising his average to .332.

2. Molina is 1-for-7 lifetime against Medlen.

3. St. Louis RF Carlos Beltran is hitless in his last 11 at-bats and is hitting .242 in July, dropping his average to .295.

PREDICTION: Braves 3, Cardinals 2