The St. Louis Cardinals are currently on a five-game winning streak and have won each of the four last series to put their season record back to the .500 mark and move them to into a tie for second place in the NL Central. Their 15-6 record at Busch Stadium is tied for the MLB-most wins at home but they are 4-13 on the road and start a nine-game road trip on Friday in Washington.

After strong pitching performances by Matthew Liberatore and Sonny Gray clinched the sweep against the Pirates, the Cardinals will look to right the ship away from home with three starters looking to work deeper into games and keep the positive momentum going.

The Cardinals (19-19, T-2nd in NL Central) look to extend their winning streak to six games and keep their series win streak going after winning each of the past four series. The Nationals (17-21, 4th in NL East) have lost their past two games and only won two of their last five series.

In the series opener Erick Fedde (2-3, 4.78 ERA) will attempt to get back into a quality start run after back-to-back underwhelming outings. In his first five outings, Fedde threw four quality starts but has been hit for 10 runs in his last 10.2 innings over his previous two starts. Opposing Fedde is left-hander Mitchell Parker (3-2, 3.48 ERA), who appears to have hit a brick wall after a stellar start to the year. In his first five starts, Parker was 4-1 with a 1.39 ERA but in his last two appearances, he has given up 12 runs in nine innings and allowed nine walks while only tallying one strikeout.

In Saturday’s afternoon game, Andre Pallante (2-2, 4.75 ERA) looks to find some consistency in his up-and-down 2025 campaign. Pallante is winless since April 11 and has only completed at least five innings in four of his seven starts. In those other three, the righty have given up 10 runs in 12 innings with 10 walks. Veteran starter Trevor Williams (2-3, 5.86 ERA) has yet to finish six innings this season and is in the middle of a tough stretch where he has given up nine runs on 14 hits in his last 10.2 innings.

Finishing the series for the Cardinals is Miles Mikolas (1-2, 4.76 ERA) has performed well over his last three starts, only giving up three runs (all in his last start) in 16.1 innings. Mikolas continues to be on a short leash when the lineup turns over for the third time and will have to work through the order quickly to go deep in a start. Opposing Mikolas is former first-round pick MacKenzie Gore (2-3, 3.33 ERA), who is winless in his last three starts but not by his own fault. Since April 19, the lefty has given up six runs over in 17 innings while striking out 23 hitters.

NOTES:

• Ivan Herrera will be activated for the road trip after a strong rehab assignment. His return creates an interesting conversation for future lineups.
• Over the last 30 days, Willson Contreras is hitting .322/.413/.522 with five homers and 16 RBIs.
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