Los Angeles @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( May 29, 2015 ) LA Dodgers 0, St. Louis 3

The St. Louis Cardinals went through a bit of a lull last weekend but are once again looking like the best team in the National League. The Cardinals will try to clinch a series among postseason hopefuls when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second of a three-game series on Saturday.

St. Louis was shut out twice in a three-game slide last week, the culmination of a stretch of nine losses in 14 games. The Cardinals got back on track behind Michael Wacha on Sunday and have taken five straight, including a 3-0 triumph in Friday’s series opener. The Dodgers have dropped back-to-back games while totaling two runs to let the rival San Francisco Giants back into the fight for the top of the NL West. The Los Angeles offense went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Friday to squander a second straight strong starting pitching performance.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, FOX

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Carlos Frias (3-2, 5.34 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (7-0, 1.87)

Frias saw his ERA jump by more than 2 1/2 runs after getting lit up by the San Diego Padres on Sunday. The 25-year-old was rocked for 10 runs and 12 hits in four innings and surrendered a pair of home runs in the outing – one more than he had yielded in his previous six appearances. Frias, who had not allowed more than three runs before Sunday’s dud, is making his first start against St. Louis.

The Cardinals have yet to lose a game started this season by Wacha, who scattered five singles over seven innings to beat Kansas City on Sunday. The Texas A&M product has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his last five starts. Wacha is making his first regular-season start against Los Angeles and earned a pair of wins against the Dodgers in the 2013 postseason, surrendering a total of seven hits in 13 2/3 scoreless innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Dodgers C Yasmani Grandal (concussion) is expected to be activated on Saturday.

2. Cardinals LF Matt Holliday, who has reached base safely in 43 straight games to begin the season, sat out Friday due to illness and is day-to-day.

3. Los Angeles RHP Joel Peralta (back) played catch on Friday and will progress to throwing off a mound in the next week.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 4, Dodgers 1