Cardinals and Nationals play to determine series winner

Washington Nationals (38-54, fifth in the NL East) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (49-44, third in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Thursday, 7:45 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Mike Soroka (3-6, 5.40 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 70 strikeouts); Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (4-6, 5.26 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 60 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cardinals -140, Nationals +118; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals are looking for a series win with a victory on Thursday.

St. Louis has gone 27-18 in home games and 49-44 overall. The Cardinals have gone 37-7 in games when they scored five or more runs.

Washington has a 38-54 record overall and a 20-26 record on the road. The Nationals have hit 90 total home runs to rank ninth in the NL.

The teams meet Thursday for the sixth time this season. The Cardinals are ahead 4-1 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Brendan Donovan has 22 doubles and eight home runs for the Cardinals. Alec Burleson is 9 for 37 with three doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games.

James Wood leads the Nationals with 24 home runs while slugging .551. Josh Bell is 13 for 32 with four doubles and five RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 4-6, .238 batting average, 5.61 ERA, outscored by 24 runs

Nationals: 4-6, .273 batting average, 6.10 ERA, outscored by 17 runs

INJURIES: Cardinals: Jordan Walker: 10-Day IL (appendicitis), Ivan Herrera: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Zack Thompson: 60-Day IL (lat)

Nationals: Trevor Williams: 60-Day IL (elbow), Keibert Ruiz: 7-Day IL (concussion), Derek Law: 60-Day IL (forearm), Dylan Crews: 10-Day IL (back), Orlando Ribalta: 15-Day IL (biceps), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.