St. Louis Cardinals (55-55, fourth in the NL Central) vs. San Diego Padres (60-49, second in the NL West)
San Diego; Friday, 9:40 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Matthew Liberatore (6-8, 4.04 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 83 strikeouts); Padres: Nick Pivetta (10-3, 2.81 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 131 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Padres -162, Cardinals +137; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The San Diego Padres start a three-game series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
San Diego has a 34-18 record at home and a 60-49 record overall. The Padres have gone 41-19 in games when they record at least eight hits.
St. Louis has a 55-55 record overall and a 23-31 record on the road. The Cardinals have the eighth-ranked team slugging percentage in the NL at .389.
The teams play Friday for the fifth time this season. The season series is tied 2-2.
TOP PERFORMERS: Manny Machado leads the Padres with a .302 batting average, and has 27 doubles, 20 home runs, 39 walks and 71 RBIs. Luis Arraez is 16 for 40 with a home run and five RBIs over the last 10 games.
Alec Burleson is second on the Cardinals with 33 extra base hits (19 doubles and 14 home runs). Willson Contreras is 11 for 36 with five doubles, two home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Padres: 6-4, .283 batting average, 2.93 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runs
Cardinals: 4-6, .231 batting average, 3.99 ERA, outscored by 11 runs
INJURIES: Padres: Nestor Cortes: 60-Day IL (elbow), Michael King: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jhony Brito: 60-Day IL (forearm), Joe Musgrove: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Cardinals: John King: 15-Day IL (oblique), Nolan Gorman: 10-Day IL (back), Lars Nootbaar: 10-Day IL (ribs), Zack Thompson: 60-Day IL (lat)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
