Thursday night viewing has never been this good as the MLB has served up a pair of blockbuster games that will definitely grab all your attention. Opening the proceedings tonight is the mouth-watering clash between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Following shortly thereafter is the pivotal showdown between the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs. Read on below for a quick breakdown of these two important games and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros.
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San Francisco Giants vs. St. Louis Cardinals (7:15 PM ET)
Line: San Francisco Giants (+145) at St. Louis Cardinals (-160); total: 7.0 – view all MLB lines
The San Francisco Giants returned to winning ways Tuesday with a nerve-wracking 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Ryan Vogelsong was solid for the Giants, pitching six innings of two-hit ball. The Giants will look to keep the momentum going later tonight when they take on the Cardinals in the final game of their three-game set.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Starting for the Giants this evening is Matt Cain (2-3, 6.05 ERA). He struggled mightily in his last start, allowing five runs on six hits and two home runs in San Francisco’s 8-5 victory over Washington on August 14. He’s now 0-2 with an 8.24 ERA in his last four starts.
The Cards, on the other hand, will have Jaime Garcia (5-4, 1.57 ERA) as their starting pitcher tonight. The Cards have won four of their last five games with Garcia as their starter. He was superb on Friday, allowing just one unearned run over 8.1 innings in a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins. The lefty hasn’t faced the Giants since May 2014, but he has a 1.78 ERA in five career starts against them.
The Chicago Cubs crashed to their second consecutive defeat with a 10-8 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. The Cubs will look to avenge that gut-wrenching loss when they take on the Tigers in the final game of their critical two-game set.
Pitching for the Cubs in this interleague matchup is Jon Lester (8-8, 3.21 ERA). The left-hander has been on fire for the Cubs of late. He’s 4-0 in his last five starts with a pair of double-digit strikeout games and just eight total runs allowed during that span. He will have his work cut out for him, though, against the Tigers. He’s 2-5 with a 5.25 ERA in 10 career starts against Detroit.
The Tigers, on the other hand, will counter with Daniel Norris (2-2, 4.24 ERA). Detroit is 3-1 in Norris’ last four starts. He was solid in his last outing, allowing four runs on six hits in 6.1 innings of action in the Tigers’ 7-4 win against the Kansas City Royals. His matchup against the Cubs will be his first interleague start.
