St. Louis @ Miami preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 6, 2018 ) St. Louis 1, Miami 2

Marcell Ozuna's return to Florida was a successful one individually, but not enough of his St. Louis Cardinals teammates came along for the ride. The two-time All-Star hopes to keep the Cardinals' streak of series wins alive for at least one more day when St. Louis visits his former team - the Miami Marlins - for the second of a three-game series.

Ozuna, who spent the first five years of his career with the Marlins, went 3-for-4 in his first game back in Miami, but St. Louis could muster only seven singles and finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position en route to a 2-1 defeat Monday. The setback was an unfortunate one for the Cardinals, who have taken two out of three from three straight playoff contenders and were hoping to keep it rolling in the first of six games against last-place teams Miami and Kansas City. The Marlins got just enough offense in the series opener to earn a victory after a winless six-game road trip, but almost gave up a two-run lead in the ninth inning as Kyle Barraclough continued to struggle as the closer. Brian Anderson plated one of Miami's two runs Monday and is 6-for-15 with a pair of walks over the last four contests.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Florida (Miami)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Miles Mikolas (11-3, 2.75 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Pablo Lopez (2-2, 4.67)

Mikolas produced his team-leading 15th quality start in Thursday's no-decision versus Colorado, allowing two runs (one earned) while striking out six across seven innings. The Nova Southeastern product has yet to allow more than four runs in any of his 22 starts this season, permitting two or fewer earned runs 16 times. One of those outings came on June 7, when Mikolas yielded one unearned run on three hits across seven innings to defeat Miami.

Lopez held the opposition to one run over six innings for the second time in three starts but settled for a no-decision Thursday in Philadelphia. The 22-year-old Venezuelan has been inconsistent thus far, mixing in three strong efforts in which he has allowed a total of four runs with three starts of giving up at least four each time. Lopez will try to improve on his 1-2 record and 5.60 ERA in three home outings when he faces St. Louis for the first time.

WALK-OFFS

1. After carrying a 1.28 ERA into the All-Star break, Barraclough has posted a 22.85 ERA and three blown saves in four opportunities over six second-half appearances.

2. Cardinals 1B Matt Carpenter failed to homer for the first time in four games, but he was able to extend his on-base streak to 25 games - one shy of his career-high and the longest active streak in the majors.

3. Miami 2B Starlin Castro is three hits shy of becoming only the sixth player to debut in the last 20 years to reach the 130-hit mark in each of his first nine seasons.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 6, Marlins 2