Jaime Garcia (10-8, 4.11 ERA) and Jonathon Niese (8-7, 5.30 ERA) are on the hill in the first of a three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals (66-57) and the New York Mets (62-62) at Busch Stadium. Action begins at 8:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 23 and can be seen on FSMW and SNY.
Garcia pitched 5.0 innings in his last outing, surrendering five runs, striking out two and walking three in an 8-5 win over the Astros. Brandon Moss (.262, 52 Rs, 23 HRs, 56 RBIs, 1 SB) went 1 for 4 Sunday with one run, one home run, and two RBIs. Niese went 4.2 innings, surrendering four runs, striking out six and walking two in a 13-5 defeat to the Diamondbacks in his most recent start. Yoenis Cespedes (.293, 52 Rs, 25 HRs, 64 RBIs, 2 SBs) went 1 for 4 Sunday with one run, one home run, and two RBIs.
Notes
New York has won 49% (23-24) of its games when leading after seven innings. However, St. Louis has won 56% (30-24) of its games when taking a late lead.
The Mets are coming into this game after allowing two walks during their last outing. The Cardinals have a 16-27 record when opponents give up two walks or less.
When they outhit their opponents, the Mets are 41-11. The Cardinals have a 45-6 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 29th, New York sits near the bottom of the league in runs, scoring 469 this season. St. Louis ranks in the top five with 614.
Ranking 23rd, New York is near the bottom of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.716). St. Louis ranks in the top five at fourth with an OPS of .776.
The Mets are 27-45 in games where they allow one or more home runs. The Cardinals are 35-37 when they allow at least one homer.
