St. Louis Cardinals (81-64, first in the NL Central) vs. Colorado Rockies (62-84, fifth in the NL West)
Denver; Thursday, 3 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (8-13, 4.25 ERA) Rockies: Tim Melville (2-1, 3.66 ERA)
LINE: Cardinals -166; over/under is 12 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Paul Goldschmidt and the Cardinals will take on the Rockies Thursday.
The Rockies are 36-35 on their home turf. The Colorado offense has compiled a .265 batting average as a team this season, good for sixth in the MLB. Charlie Blackmon leads the team with a mark of .321.
The Cardinals are 35-38 on the road. The St. Louis pitching staff has a combined team ERA of 3.82, Miles Mikolas leads the staff with a mark of 4.25. The Rockies won the last meeting 2-1. Antonio Senzatela earned his ninth victory and Ian Desmond went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for Colorado. Dakota Hudson registered his seventh loss for St. Louis.
TOP PERFORMERS: Blackmon leads the Rockies with 75 extra base hits and is batting .321. Daniel Murphy is 7-for-29 with three doubles, two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games for Colorado.
Paul DeJong leads the Cardinals with 57 extra base hits and is slugging .452. Paul Goldschmidt is 9-for-32 with four doubles, a triple and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rockies: 3-7, .208 batting average, 4.69 ERA, outscored by 25 runs
Cardinals: 6-4, .239 batting average, 2.48 ERA, outscored opponents by 17 runs
Rockies Injuries: Scott Oberg: (arm), German Marquez: (arm), Jon Gray: (foot), Kyle Freeland: (groin), Chad Bettis: (hip), Tyler Anderson: (knee), David Dahl: (ankle), Brendan Rodgers: (shoulder).
Cardinals Injuries: Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Tony Cingrani: (shoulder), Brett Cecil: (wrist/forearm), Lane Thomas: (wrist).
