Los Angeles @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 7, 2013 ) LA Dodgers 13, St. Louis 4

Watching their franchise-record 15-game road win streak come to an end hardly fazed the Los Angeles Dodgers, who rebounded from Tuesday's loss by piling up 13 runs and a season-high 18 hits to even the series with the host St. Louis Cardinals at one game apiece. The Dodgers enter Thursday's series finale having won 16 of 19 since the All-Star break and hold a five-game lead over Arizona atop the National League West. Skip Schumaker halted an 0-for-14 skid with three hits and four RBIs versus his former team.

An injury to rookie Shelby Miller forced St. Louis to bring in Thursday's scheduled starter Jake Westbrook in relief Wednesday, necessitating the promotion of top prospect Carlos Martinez to start the series finale. The top three batters in the lineup - Matt Carpenter, Jon Jay and Carlos Beltran - were a combined 7-for-13 in Wednesday's loss. Beltran is batting .481 (13-for-27) during a seven-game hitting streak and Jay is hitting .418 (14-for-34) in his last eight games.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (10-3, 3.15 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Carlos Martinez (0-0, 5.56)

Ryu has won three consecutive starts and is 4-0 over his last seven outings, but he was hardly impressive in his last turn. The 26-year-old South Korean yielded 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings but limited the damage to two runs in a 6-2 win at the Chicago Cubs. Ryu is 5-2 away from home, but he has failed to go past 5 1/3 innings and has allowed 11 runs and 27 hits over 15 2/3 innings in his last three road starts.

Martinez will be called up from Triple-A Memphis to make his first major-league start. The 21-year-old Martinez has been likened to Pedro Martinez for his slight stature and blazing fastball, which has been clocked in the upper-90s and produced 45 strikeouts in 51 innings at Memphis. Martinez has made 10 relief appearances with the Cardinals, including a scoreless inning versus the Dodgers in which he fanned two.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Dodgers have not lost back-to-back games since June 20-21 in San Diego.

2. Carpenter has an NL-best 43rd multiple-hit games for St. Louis, which trails Pittsburgh by three games in the NL Central.

3. Dodgers LF Carl Crawford is 12-for-26 lifetime in St. Louis.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3