Washington Nationals (71-82, fourth in the NL East) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (75-78, fourth in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Cade Cavalli (12-5, 3.12 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 194 strikeouts); Cardinals: Kyle Leahy (10-4, 3.33 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 128 strikeouts)
LINE: Cardinals -115, Nationals -106; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals start a three-game series at home against the Washington Nationals on Friday.
St. Louis has a 75-78 record overall and a 37-41 record at home. Cardinals hitters have a collective .316 on-base percentage, the ninth-ranked percentage in the NL.
Washington has gone 34-41 in road games and 71-82 overall. The Nationals have gone 29-19 in games when they did not allow a home run.
The teams square off Friday for the fourth time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Alec Burleson has 37 doubles, a triple and 23 home runs while hitting .284 for the Cardinals. Leonardo Bernal is 11 for 41 with two doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.
C.J. Abrams has 30 home runs, 53 walks and 96 RBIs while hitting .264 for the Nationals. Dylan Crews is 10 for 36 with four doubles, a home run and six RBIs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 4-6, .236 batting average, 4.10 ERA, outscored by three runs
Nationals: 4-6, .233 batting average, 5.02 ERA, outscored by nine runs
INJURIES: Cardinals: Joshua Baez: day-to-day (side), Blaze Jordan: 10-Day IL (ankle), Max Rajcic: 60-Day IL (elbow), Hunter Dobbins: 15-Day IL (forearm), Everson Pereira: 10-Day IL (hand)
Nationals: Matt Waldron: 60-Day IL (chest), Connelly Early: 60-Day IL (elbow), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Orlando Ribalta: 15-Day IL (forearm), Drew Millas: 60-Day IL (finger), PJ Poulin: 60-Day IL (flexor), Mitchell Parker: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (forearm)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
