St. Louis @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 17, 2016 ) St. Louis 3, San Francisco 2

If the San Francisco Giants lose their tenuous hold on a National League wild-card spot and fail to reach the postseason, their shaky relief corps will shoulder much of the blame. The beleaguered bullpen will look to bounce back from another rough showing in Sunday’s series finale against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, who rallied for a 3-2 victory on Saturday.

Santiago Casilla suffered his ninth blown save on Saturday as the Giants fell five games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West and now share the top wild-card spot with the New York Mets, with St. Louis two games back. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy announced last week that he would replace Casilla in the closer’s role with a committee of relievers that includes Hunter Strickland, Derek Law, Sergio Romo and Joe Nathan, but he's continued to give Casilla the ball in several high-pressure situations. St. Louis capitalized on the Giants’ bullpen woes Saturday and will try to salvage a split of the four-game series Sunday behind rookie Alex Reyes, who is making his third career start. The Cardinals could be without Matt Holliday for the rest of the season after the veteran left fielder canceled his simulated game on Saturday due to swelling in his surgically repaired right thumb.

TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Alex Reyes (2-1, 1.29 ERA) vs. Giants RH Albert Suarez (3-3, 4.20)

Reyes is making his first start since transitioning into the rotation last week in place of struggling Jaime Garcia, who was moved to the bullpen. The Cardinals’ top pitching prospect earned the nod after tossing 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over the Cubs. “He’s continuing to impress us, no matter what situation we do put him into,” manager Mike Matheny told reporters. “We feel he’s going to give us the best shot right now.”

Suarez tossed five innings of one-run ball against San Diego on Tuesday and hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his last five appearances. The 26-year-old rookie has pitched well as a starter but hasn’t thrown more than five innings since working six on July 3 against Arizona. Suarez, who never has faced St. Louis, owns a 2-1 record and 3.12 ERA in 11 games (four starts) at home compared to 1-2 with a 5.13 ERA in nine games (six starts) on the road.

WALK-OFFS

1. San Francisco relievers have a 6.19 ERA in the ninth inning or later this season.

2. St. Louis 1B Matt Adams exited Saturday’s game with a jammed left wrist but expects to be available for Sunday’s series finale.

3. Giants RF Hunter Pence is batting .465 (20-for-43) with 12 runs, two home runs and seven RBI during his 11-game hitting streak.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 6, Giants 2