First pitch: Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: St. Louis +150, Washington -160, Total: 7.0

The Cardinals will be hoping to avoid a fourth straight loss when they face the Nationals in Washington on Friday.

The Cardinals have hit a bit of a cold stretch, as they have now lost three straight games and four of their past five as well. They’ll be looking to get back on track against a Nationals team that has now won six of its past nine contests. The starting pitchers in this one are set to be LHP Jaime Garcia (3-4, 3.59 ERA, 51 K) for St. Louis and RHP Max Scherzer (5-3, 3,80 ERA, 84 K) for Washington. Both have been very solid this season, so this game could turn into a pitcher’s duel. Washington has gotten the best of this head-to-head series on the season, going 4-0 against the money line versus St. Louis on the year. One trend that sticks out when looking at this game is that the Cardinals are 23-6 against the money line after a one run loss over the past two seasons. They are, however, a miserable 5-12 against the money line when the total is seven or less this season.

The Cardinals will be trying to end their recent struggles on Friday and Jaime Garcia is going to be the guy that is sent out there to do that. Garcia is coming off of a brutal start against the Diamondbacks on May 22, allowing 10 hits and five earned runs in just 2.1 innings of work. He has now allowed eight earned runs in his past 7.1 innings on the mound and he’ll need to turn it around on Friday as well. The last time he faced Washington, Garcia allowed four earned runs in 6.1 innings. He walked three batters in that game and will need to clean things up this time around. Offensively, the guys to keep an eye on for St. Louis are OF Stephen Piscotty (.326 BA, 5 HR, 26 RBI) and 1B Matt Adams (.320 BA, 6 HR, 21 RBI). Both of these guys have been hitting the ball pretty well lately, as Piscotty has seen his average rise from .307 to .326 since May 17 and Adams has homered three times in the past seven contests. Both guys will be counted on to provide some run support for Garcia in this one.

Max Scherzer has been pitching well for the Nationals lately, as he has now allowed just six earned runs in his past 23.1 innings on the mound. The truly absurd thing to point out is that he has struck out a total of 38 batters in his last three starts. He’ll be looking to dominate the Cardinals on Friday and he should be able to do it, as he allowed zero earned runs in seven innings of work against them on May 1. Scherzer struck out nine batters in that game and walked none, so he should be confident coming into this one. The bats to keep an eye on for the Nationals are going to be OFs Bryce Harper (.245 BA, 12 HR, 32 RBI) and Jayson Werth (.224 BA, 6 HR, 20 RBI), as well as 2B Daniel Murphy (.394 BA, 7 HR, 30 RBI). Harper is a threat to go yard whenever he is at the plate, so Garcia will be very careful when pitching to him. Werth, meanwhile, is 6-for-20 with two homers and six RBI against Garcia in his career. The last player mentioned was Murphy, but he just might be the most dangerous of the three in this one. He has gotten two hits in five of the past eight games and has been the best hitter in the league all season. Murphy will be hoping to provide a spark on Friday.