St. Louis @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 5, 2018 ) St. Louis 11, San Francisco 2

The St. Louis Cardinals hope to continue their success on their nine-game road trip when they visit the San Francisco Giants on Friday for the second contest of their four-game set. St. Louis rolled to an 11-2 victory in the series opener to improve to 3-1 on a trek that has seen it outscore its opponents 27-13.

The Cardinals registered a season-high 18 hits in Thursday's triumph, with Yadier Molina and Jedd Gyorko recording three apiece. Gyorko homered and collected a season-best five RBIs while Tommy Pham recorded two hits and drove in a run, making him 8-for-21 with seven RBIs over his last five contests. The Giants were limited to two hits in the opener as they suffered their fourth consecutive loss. Alen Hanson belted a two-run homer in the setback for San Francisco, which has scored a total of five runs during its slide.

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

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH John Gant (2-3, 3.92 ERA) vs. Giants RH Dereck Rodriguez (3-1, 3.16)

Gant will be making his sixth start of the season with hopes of bouncing back from a loss to Atlanta on Sunday in which he yielded four runs on four hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings. The 25-year-old native of Georgia was much better in his previous outing as he limited Cleveland to one hit over seven scoreless frames to notch the win despite issuing five walks. Gant has made two relief appearances against San Francisco in his career, allowing one run and three hits in four innings.

Rodriguez extended his unbeaten streak to four starts on Saturday as he scattered six hits over 6 1/3 innings at Arizona to record the victory. The 26-year-old rookie from Texas has yet to lose at home, going 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA in three turns. Rodriguez, who never has faced St. Louis, has allowed fewer than three runs in four of his first six major-league starts.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Cardinals acquired LHP Elniery Garcia, who currently is on the disabled list, from Philadelphia for international cap space.

2. San Francisco activated RHP Johnny Cueto (elbow), who yielded five runs and 10 hits in five innings, from the 60-day disabled list Thursday and optioned 2B Kelby Tomlinson to Triple-A Sacramento.

3. St. Louis activated OF Dexter Fowler from the paternity list, placed OF Tyler O'Neill (hamstring) on the 10-day disabled list and optioned RHP Matt Bowman (finger) to Triple-A Memphis after activating him from the DL.

PREDICTION: Giants 4, Cardinals 2