St. Louis @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 15, 2016 ) St. Louis 2, San Francisco 6

Hunter Pence's roller-coaster season has been marred by injury and a lengthy home run drought, but San Francisco’s eccentric right fielder is heating up at the right time. Pence looks to extend his hitting streak to 10 games Friday as the Giants continue their critical four-game series against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

Pence belted a two-run homer in Thursday’s 6-2 win over the Cardinals and is batting .486 (17-for-35) during his streak for the Giants, who moved within four games of first-place Dodgers in the National League West. San Francisco has six games left with the Dodgers and owns the top wild-card spot, one game ahead of the New York Mets and two clear of St. Louis. Matt Moore takes the mound Friday to face a Cardinals team that has scored three runs or fewer in seven of their past 14 games and needs more production from leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter, who has five hits in his last 27 at-bats. Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal, out since July 26 with shoulder and forearm injuries, was activated from the disabled list Thursday and likely will be eased back into action this weekend in low-pressure situations.

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

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Luke Weaver (1-2, 3.48 ERA) vs. Giants LH Matt Moore (10-11, 4.08)

Weaver continued to impress while tossing six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts against Milwaukee on Sunday. “He makes good pitches and doesn’t get too rattled,” manager Mike Matheny told reporters. “He’s getting better every time he goes out.” The 23-year-old rookie has yielded three runs or fewer in each his six starts and boasts a 39-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio since being promoted from Triple-A Memphis in mid-August.

Moore matched his career-high in strikeouts with 11 and allowed two runs over seven frames in a 5-3 win over Arizona on Sunday. The 27-year-old has won three of his last four decisions and owns a 3-4 mark and 4.05 ERA in eight starts since joining the Giants at the trade deadline. Moore, who has never faced St. Louis, issued one walk against the Diamondbacks after handing out a total of 26 free passes in his previous seven outings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cardinals SS Aledmys Diaz, who returned from the disabled list Tuesday, expects to return to the starting lineup Friday after being rested Thursday.

2. Giants CF Denard Span batted eighth for the first time this season Thursday and responded with two hits and two RBIs.

3. St. Louis RHP Alex Reyes will start Sunday’s series finale in place of LHP Jaime Garcia, who is being demoted to the bullpen.

PREDICTION: Giants 6, Cardinals 3