San Francisco @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 7, 2012 ) San Francisco 4, St. Louis 2

Buster Posey is battering the baseball and looks to extend his hitting streak to 12 games when the San Francisco Giants visit the St. Louis Cardinals in the third contest of a four-game series. Posey hit a three-run blast on Tuesday for his fifth homer in six games as the Giants evened the series. Posey is batting a torrid .448 with eight homers and 30 RBIs since the All-Star break. St. Louis is 5-2 in August.

Allen Craig hit two homers for both Cardinals’ runs on Tuesday as St. Louis missed an opportunity to gain ground on National League Central rivals Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, which both lost. Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay is 6-for-8 in the series. San Francisco has won four of its last five games and has a 1 1/2-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera has a major-league leading 152 hits and is second in the majors with a .353 average, trailing only Pittsburgh star Andrew McCutchen (.372).

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (San Francisco), Fox Sports Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Ryan Vogelsong (9-5, 2.38 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Joe Kelly (2-4, 3.14)

Vogelsong has pitched at least six innings in all 20 of his starts. He beat the Colorado Rockies in his last outing when he gave up four runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Vogelsong is 4-2 with a 3.60 ERA in nine road starts. He is 1-4 with a 7.65 ERA in 15 career appearances (five starts) against the Cardinals.

Kelly beat the Milwaukee Brewers in his last outing to snap a four-game losing streak. He gave up three runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings for his first win since June 22. Kelly has allowed three or fewer runs in all 10 of his major-league starts. He has never faced the Giants.

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis C Yadier Molina had two hits Tuesday and is batting .413 during an 11-game hitting streak.

2. Giants OF Angel Pagan is 10-for-22 with four walks over the last five games. He also has a .378 average in 32 career games against St. Louis.

3. Cardinals OF Carlos Beltran, who has a nine-game hitting streak, is 4-for-9 with a homer and two doubles against Vogelsong.