San Francisco @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 8, 2018 ) St. Louis 8, San Francisco 13

The St. Louis Cardinals had won three in a row to pick up steam toward their first postseason berth since 2015 only to stumble in their last outing. The Cardinals (84-69) aim to dust themselves off and return to form on Friday when they begin their last homestand of the season with the opener of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants (72-81).

St. Louis veteran catcher Yadier Molina had an RBI single in Wednesday's 7-3 setback against Atlanta to extend his hitting streak to four games, during which he has one homer and driven in eight runs. The 36-year-old is 3-for-9 versus San Francisco this season and 5-for-17 against Friday starter Madison Bumgarner. The Cardinals are clinging to a 1 1/2-game lead over Colorado for the second wild-card spot in the National League entering the series opener versus the Giants, who answered an 11-game losing skid by winning four of five before dropping an 8-4 decision to San Diego on Wednesday. Aramis Garcia belted his third homer in eight starts in the last outing and has hit safely in nine of his first 10 career contests.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, NBC Bay Area (San Francisco), FS Midwest (St. Louis),

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (6-6, 3.14 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH John Gant (7-6, 3.53)

Bumgarner allowed five hits in six innings versus Colorado in Saturday's 3-0 win to sandwich a pair of scoreless outings around two disastrous ones. The 29-year-old improved to 4-5 in his career versus the Cardinals after yielding four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 frames in a 13-8 victory on July 8. Bumgarner is returning to the Gateway City for his first start since the 2014 NL Championship Series, when he tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings to help the Giants advance to the World Series in five games.

Gant saw his seven-game streak of yielding two runs or fewer come to a halt on Saturday, as he allowed six on as many hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 17-4 setback versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 26-year-old lamented his inability to find the strike zone, as he walked four in that contest and 18 over his last five outings (28 innings). Gant pitched well against San Fancisco on July 6, permitting two runs on five hits in six innings of a no-decision.

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis 1B Matt Carpenter is 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts in his last five games.

2. Giants SS Brandon Crawford, who recorded his 10th three-hit performance on Wednesday, is just 1-for-13 versus the Cardinals this season.

3. St. Louis LF Marcell Ozuna is 6-for-15 with one homer, two RBIs and four runs scored during his four-game hitting streak.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 3, Giants 1