St. Louis @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( May 13, 2015 ) St. Louis 0, Cleveland 2

The St. Louis Cardinals ran into a buzzsaw on Wednesday night and are hoping the poor performance was a one-night blip for the offense. The Cardinals will try to avoid a second straight series loss when they visit the Cleveland Indians for the rubber match of a three-game series on Thursday afternoon.

Corey Kluber picked up his first win of the season and struck out the most batters in an American League park since 1998 when he punched out 18 over eight scoreless innings to earn the win for the Indians. Kluber took a no-hitter into the seventh and the Cardinals managed only one hit in the contest while falling 2-0. The reigning Cy Young Award winner matched the franchise record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game but was denied a chance at the major-league mark when Cody Allen came on in the ninth for the save. The Cardinals did not lose a series until last weekend and are now in danger of dropping two straight for the first time since last August.

TV: 12:05 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (5-0, 2.09 ERA) vs. Indians RH Trevor Bauer (2-1, 4.19)

Wacha has given up more than two earned runs once in six starts and picked up a win at Pittsburgh on Friday by allowing three runs (two earned) and six hits in six innings. The 23-year-old only notched one strikeout against the Pirates but did not walk a batter. Wacha is making his first appearance against Cleveland and is 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three road starts.

Bauer knows about big strikeout totals after racking up 11 in six hitless innings in his season debut, but he has not approached that efficiency again. The 24-year old has been reached for 11 runs and 16 hits in 9 1/3 innings over his last two starts. Bauer has yet to allow a run on the road but is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in four home starts.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cardinals LF Matt Holliday left Wednesday’s game after being hit with a pitch in the elbow and is day-to-day.

2. Indians 2B Jason Kipnis is 10-for-16 with five runs scored in his last four games.

3. Cleveland LF Michael Brantley went 0-for-5 on Wednesday to snap an 11-game hitting streak.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 7, Indians 3