The St. Louis Cardinals enjoyed a day of rest on Thursday. They probably are going to need it.
The Cardinals will begin an 11-game road trip on Friday afternoon when they play the opener of a three-game series against the rival Chicago Cubs.
St. Louis plays 17 of its final 41 games against National League Central opponents. The Cardinals and Cubs have split their first 10 meetings this season.
St. Louis recorded its third straight series victory with a 7-1 shellacking of the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.
“So, what I love about a series like this is, you were playing against a team that’s built to make a deep run into the playoffs — and we played like one, too,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.
Alec Burleson flexed his muscles in the three-game set, driving in three runs in the finale to finish 5-for-10 with two doubles and six RBIs in the series.
Another highlight for St. Louis on Wednesday was rookie Cesar Prieto leading off the fifth inning with a single, ending an 0-for-27 drought to start his season.
“He needed that,” Marmol said. “You can tell by the reaction of the dugout, it was good for everybody. I’m glad he got that out of the way.”
The Cubs head home after a disappointing 7-0 setback to the Washington Nationals on Thursday. Chicago mustered just one hit — Michael Busch’s bloop single with two outs in the seventh inning — while taking just its second loss in 10 games.
The Cubs will try their luck on Friday afternoon against St. Louis left-hander Matthew Liberatore (5-9, 5.15 ERA), who will look to bounce back from another rough outing.
Liberatore fell to 0-3 in his past four starts after allowing five runs on nine hits in five innings during an 8-6 home loss to the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
Liberatore, 26, is 2-3 with a 3.76 ERA in 13 career appearances (seven starts) vs. the Cubs.
He has faced Chicago three times this season, with each start getting progressively worse.
He scattered three hits over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a 5-1 home win on May 31 before giving up four runs, three earned, in five-plus innings of a 6-4 loss at Chicago on July 5. Three weeks later, he took another loss against the Cubs, giving up eight hits and three runs over 3 2/3 innings in a 7-3 setback on July 27.
Chicago right-hander Clay Holmes (4-5, 2.86 ERA) will supply the opposition on Friday.
Holmes struggled in his debut with the Cubs on Saturday, permitting four runs on six hits in four innings during a 6-3 loss to the Royals in Kansas City. He was making his return to a major league mound after a lengthy recovery process from a fractured fibula, an injury sustained on May 15 while he was pitching for the New York Mets.
“It took a lot of work to get back to this point, and it definitely felt good to just be back in the big-league game — obviously, that’s not the full goal,” said Holmes, who was acquired by Chicago from New York in an Aug. 3 trade. “You want to be back and helping this team win games, and I just wasn’t quite sharp enough (against the Royals), but it was a good step.
“It’s rewarding to be able to come back, and I’m really close to being myself.”
Holmes won his lone meeting with the Cardinals this season, yielding two runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings in his first start of the season, a 4-2 Mets road win on March 30. In his career, Holmes is 2-2 with one save and a 5.28 ERA in 14 games (three starts) vs. St. Louis.
–Field Level Media
