Washington @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( May 2, 2019 ) St. Louis 1, Washington 2

The St. Louis Cardinals' grip on first place in the National League Central is tenuous at best following losses in four of their last six contests. The Cardinals aim to get back on track Monday, when they send Stephen Strasburg to the mound for the opener of their three-game series versus the visiting Washington Nationals.

Harrison Bader belted a pair of homers and Tommy Edman joined Paul DeJong with a two-run shot, although Ryan Braun's grand slam in the ninth inning led to St. Louis' undoing in Sunday's 7-6 setback against Milwaukee. Bader has hit three homers and scored six runs over his last four contests while Edman has gone deep in back-to-back games and four times while hitting safely in nine of his last 10 contests. While St. Louis is nursing a two-game lead over Chicago in the NL Central, Washington posted just its fourth win in 11 contests on Sunday to maintain its 1 1/2-game lead over the Cubs for the first wild card. Howie Kendrick, who homered to highlight a three-hit performance in Sunday's 7-0 romp over Atlanta, went 6-for-14 as the Nationals dropped three of four to the Cardinals from April 29-May 2.

TV: 7:45 p.m. ET, MLB Network, MASN (Washington), FS Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Stephen Strasburg (17-6, 3.49 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Dakota Hudson (15-7, 3.38)

Strasburg increased his career-high win total on Wednesday after allowing two runs and four hits in six innings of a 6-2 victory at Minnesota. One of his NL-best 17 triumphs this season came at the expense of St. Louis, against which the 31-year-old surrendered one run and six hits in 6 2/3 frames of a 2-1 win on May 2. Marcell Ozuna (13-for-41, two homers) has fared well versus Strasburg, who has posted a 7-2 record since the All-Star break while limiting the opposition to a .211 batting average.

Hudson saw his five-start winning streak come to a halt on Wednesday despite yielding two runs and four hits in six innings of a 3-1 setback at Colorado. Five walks were to blame for driving up the pitch count of the 25-year-old, who surrendered his second homer in three outings after keeping the ball in the park in each of his previous five turns. Hudson fell victim to Strasburg in their last meeting in May despite permitting just two runs and four hits in six innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Nationals CF Victor Robles has gone 7-for-13 with three doubles and four runs during his four-game hitting streak.

2. St. Louis C Yadier Molina is 0-for-14 in his last four contests.

3. Washington SS Trea Turner has collected 17 hits and 11 runs in his last 14 games.

PREDICTION: Nationals 3, Cardinals 2