MLB Game Preview - St. Louis at Oakland

Sat Aug 3, 2019 9:07 PM EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals and host Oakland Athletics will try out a new experience Saturday night when they open a two-game interleague series on a weekend after both having been given a rare Friday off.

The marquee matchup pits two of baseball's winningest teams since the All-Star break, with the Cardinals having moved into first place in the National League Central by going 14-6, while the A's have put themselves solidly in the chase for an American League wild-card playoff spot by going 12-7.

Getting Friday off was part of a Major League Baseball experiment this season designed to boost attendance.

The A's were one of five teams that took MLB up on its offer, with the thinking being that two high-profile interleague matchups on a weekend potentially would draw more people than the traditional mid-week slot and would more than offset the loss of a Friday gate.

In fact, the A's were so sold on the idea, they were the only team to request two such weekend series, the other slated for Aug. 24-25 against the rival San Francisco Giants.

"We wanted to try it and see how it works out," A's president David Kaval explained this week. "The initial response has been very positive. We can really promote around it.

"It is important to have tentpole events like this. We've made so many improvements to the (Oakland) Coliseum and we want to get people out who have never been here or maybe haven't been back for awhile."

Those who attend Saturday's series opener will see a matchup of each team's top winner -- Cardinals rookie right-hander Dakota Hudson (10-5, 3.88 ERA) and A's righty Mike Fiers (9-3, 3.54).

Hudson, who has never faced the A's, had won four in a row before getting roughed up by Houston in his last start. He's been a winner both on the road this season (6-3) and in interleague play in his career (2-1).

After standing pat at the trade deadline, the Cardinals exploded for a confidence-building, 8-0 romp over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.

They had lost three of four leading into the day on which many contenders remade their rosters. The Cardinals chose not to be one of them.

"This team doesn't need a jolt," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt observed to reporters Thursday. "This team jolts itself. It has all year, and will continue to do that."

Fiers will take the mound riding a 15-game unbeaten streak in which he's gone 7-0 with a 2.30 ERA. He's gone 4-0 in his last eight home starts, not allowing more than three runs in any of them.

The 34-year-old has faced the Cardinals nine times in his career, seven times as a starter, going 3-2 with a 1.45 ERA. Their last head-to-head was in 2015.

The A's swept a pair when the clubs dueled in St. Louis in June, running their winning streak over the Cardinals to four games. They haven't met in Oakland since 2013.

--Field Level Media