St. Louis @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 5, 2016 ) San Francisco 3, St. Louis 6

Either the San Francisco Giants or St. Louis Cardinals - and possibly both - will nail down a National League wild-card spot despite staggering down the stretch. San Francisco hosts St. Louis in a four-game series beginning Thursday and while the Giants also maintain an outside chance to win the NL West, the Cardinals' only avenue into the postseason is via the wild card as the Chicago Cubs' magic number to clinch the Central is one with 17 games remaining.

San Francisco owns the top wild-card spot, one-half game ahead of the New York Mets and one clear of St. Louis. New York has 16 games to play - all against teams with .500 or losing records - while the Giants have six left with the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cardinals meet Chicago three more times. San Francisco was swept in a three-game series at home by San Diego this week while St. Louis dropped two of three to the Cubs and is 3-5 in its last eight games. The Giants' Johnny Cueto snapped a three-game winless streak (0-2) in his last outing and opposes Adam Wainwright, who won his last two starts.

TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (11-8, 4.45 ERA) vs. Giants RH Johnny Cueto (15-5, 2.90)

Wainwright allowed one run, six hits and four walks while striking out seven in eight innings of a 5-1 victory over Milwaukee on Saturday. The 35-year-old Georgia native owns a 1.35 WHIP, which would be his highest since a 1.40 mark in 2007 - his first season as a starter. Hunter Pence is batting .275 with two home runs and 12 strikeouts in 51 at-bats and Buster Posey is 3-for-14 versus Wainwright, who is 5-6 with a 3.06 ERA in 13 games (11 starts) versus San Francisco after a 5-1 loss in St. Louis on June 3 when he allowed two runs in seven innings.

The Giants are 20-9 this season in games Cueto started after he yielded two runs and three hits while striking out six in seven innings of an 11-3 victory in Arizona on Saturday. The 30-year-old Dominican allowed three home runs in his last six starts after permitting nine in the previous eight turns. Matt Adams is 6-for-16 with a home run while Jhonny Peralta is hitting .174 with eight strikeouts in 23 at-bats versus Cueto, who is 6-8 with a 3.88 in 21 starts against the Cardinals.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Giants, who are a major league-worst 20-35 since the All-Star break after having the best record prior (57-33), trail the Dodgers by five games.

2. St. Louis RHP Michael Wacha (right shoulder inflammation) was activated from the disabled list Wednesday and is expected to pitch out of the bullpen.

3. Giants 3B Eduardo Nunez (oblique) missed the last three games, but manager Bruce Bochy said he hopes to have him back Thursday.

PREDICTION: Giants 3, Cardinals 2