The St. Louis Cardinals will look to build on Saturday's win and expand their slim lead in the National League wild card race when they face Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals had lost four straight games before Saturday night's 10-9 win over the Nats.
Manager Mike Matheny will turn to Jake Westbrook, who is 13-10 on the season with a 3.94 ERA. Westbrook has struggled in his last two starts, giving up five runs in five innings in a win over Houston on Aug. 23 and conceding seven in a five-inning loss to Pittsburgh on Aug. 28.
Strasburg enters Sunday's game with a 15-6 record and a 3.05 ERA. The young righty is on a strict inning count for this season, and has been told he has just two or three more starts this year before the Nationals shut him down, regardless of playoff positioning. The game will be his first career start against the Cardinals.
St. Louis enters today's game leading Pittsburgh and Los Angeles by 1.5 games for the second National League wild card spot. Washington leads the NL East by 6.5 games. FIrst pitch is scheduled for 12:35 p.m. CT, with coverage on Fox Sports Midwest.
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