The St. Louis Cardinals have been capitalizing off quality pitching and Thursday is expected to be no different. However, while there pitching has been strong, performances at the plate have been even better with Matt Carpenter leading the way. As he aims to continue dominating the San Francisco Giants, the Cardinals will look to finish this series out with a win.
Carpenter is in the midst of a seven-game hit streak in which he has gone 11 for 26 after being 6 for 44 in his previous 13 games. That has only gotten better against the Giants who he is 7 for 11 against including four hits in this three-game series alone. Carpenter loves hitting against the Giants. He has a .520 batting average in 16 games against the National League team while being in the middle of a 10-game hit streak in the sries.
The Cardinals will send Carlos Martinez to the mound to keep the pitching up to speed. After Adam Wainwright delivered a strong outing on Wednesday, Martinez is hopeful to do the same as he is 1-3 with a 4.13 ERA on the year. In three starts, he has looked strong, but has not gone beyond the fifth inning as he adjusts to being a starter rather than a bullpen reliever. He is considered to be on of St. Louis' top young arms they expected to make an impact.
The Giants will send up Madison Bumgarner who is 9-5 with a 2.90 ERA. He has struggled recent at home going 0-2 with a 4.95 ERA over his last three starts and is coming off his worst season outing where have gave up five earned runs and nine hits through six innings. He exceled in his last start against the Cardinals where he struke out 10 while only giving up three hits in seven innings. San Francisco is hoping for a repeat performance.
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