MLB Game Preview - San Francisco at St. Louis

Mon Sep 2, 2019 2:15 PM EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals will battle fatigue as well as the visiting San Francisco Giants when the teams open a four-game series on Monday afternoon.

After playing consecutive day-night doubleheaders against the Cincinnati Reds, the Cardinals will take the field for their fifth game at Busch Stadium within 50 hours.

"That was a whirlwind of baseball," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said after Sunday's doubleheader. "We have a quick turnaround tomorrow, too."

St. Louis won three of four games against the Reds while extending its National League Central lead back to three games over the second-place Chicago Cubs.

The Cardinals have won 18 of their past 23 games overall. Meanwhile, the reeling Giants have lost five of their past six contests and nine of their past 12.

Cardinals starting Adam Wainwright (9-9, 4.52 ERA) will try to get back on track against the Giants. In his last two starts, the 38-year-old allowed seven runs on seven walks and 14 hits in 8 2/3 innings.

"It's been a rough couple of weeks for me, really," Wainwright told reporters after lasting just 3 2/3 innings in his latest start, Aug. 26 at Milwaukee. "I'm trying to make the most of it, I'm trying to battle and keep our team in the game. It's a long season, and you're going to go through ruts like that every now and then.

"Unfortunately, I can look at a couple of starts in a row and say it's been a tough grind for the last 10 or 12 days for me now. I just have to keep battling, keep pitching and keep competing, and when it comes back, it's going to be great."

Overall, Wainwright has been very good at Busch Stadium this season, going 6-3 with a 2.67 ERA in 12 starts.

Wainwright is 6-7 with a 3.31 ERA in 16 career appearances against the Giants, including 14 starts. He has not faced them this season.

The Giants will start Tyler Beede (3-8, 5.56 ERA) on Monday night. He will face the Cardinals for the first time in his young career.

Beede, a 2014 first-round pick from Vanderbilt, will be coming off his best start since mid-July 19. On Aug. 26 in a 6-4 loss to Arizona, he allowed just one earned run in 5 2/3 innings while taking a hard-luck defeat.

"He should feel good about this outing," Giants manager Bruce Bochy told reporters after the game. "I thought he had all-around better stuff and command. He looked very composed out there tonight. He was throwing well, and pitching very efficiently, too.

"It was a good outing for him. We just couldn't get some runs there. He had us there in the game."

Prior to that start, Beede was 0-4 with an 8.23 ERA over his previous six outings.

The Giants will be without slugger Pablo Sandoval, who took one final at-bat for the team on Sunday before undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. Sandoval grounded out.

While reliever Reyes Moronta won't be available to fcace the Cardinals after sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury, the Giants could get pitcher Johnny Cueto back from the injured list after his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

"He's ready to go," Bochy said of Cueto. "Just a matter of where we pencil him in."

--Field Level Media