Colorado @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 10, 2015 ) St. Louis 4, Colorado 2

The St. Louis Cardinals may own baseball's best record, but they have endured their share of adversity as well. The Cardinals look to pick up the pieces after seeing seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday suffer a right quad strain when they open a four-game series against the visiting Colorado Rockies on Thursday.

Holliday pulled up lame while running to first base in the first inning, resulting in the same injury that sidelined him for 31 games earlier in the season. St. Louis, which has dropped three of four, certainly needs his bat in the lineup as the club has been held without a run in 22 innings and has scored in just one of the past 30 frames. Plating runs hasn't been much of a problem for Colorado, as it erupted for 48 runs in its previous six games before coming up short in a 3-2 setback to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday afternoon. Carlos Gonzalez is 15-for-33 with eight homers, 16 RBIs and 13 runs scored in his last eight contests.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, ROOT (Colorado), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Chris Rusin (3-4, 4.13 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Carlos Martinez (11-4, 2.34)

Rusin allowed five runs for the second straight outing on Saturday and surrendered 10 hits in a 5-2 setback to Cincinnati. The 28-year-old hasn't tasted victory since June 21, but has pitched extremely well in his two career outings versus St. Louis. Rusin owns a 1-0 mark with a minuscule 0.82 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 11 innings against the Cardinals.

Martinez bounced back from his first loss in over a month to scatter six hits over eight innings in a 1-0 triumph versus Atlanta on Saturday. The 23-year-old Dominican has yielded just three earned runs in his last five outings (32 innings) and is seeking his 11th consecutive quality start on Thursday. Martinez kept Colorado in check in his last meeting on June 10, permitting two runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 frames to pick up the win.

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis OF Kolten Wong was 9-for-24 in his previous six games before going hitless in four at-bats on Wednesday.

2. Colorado 3B Nolan Arenado is just 2-for-16 in his last four outings, but has five RBIs in that stretch.

3. Cardinals SS Jhonny Peralta is 0-for-15 in his last five contests.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 2, Rockies 1