While it has not been a West Coast trip to savor so far, the St. Louis Cardinals will open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday coming off a victory.

The Cardinals avoided a four-game sweep against the San Francisco Giants with a 6-0 win on Thursday. Right-hander Miles Mikolas struck out six in 6 1/3 sharp innings, and St. Louis banged out 12 hits.

“That’s what Cardinals baseball is supposed to look like,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “There’s a lot of positive things that came out of (it). But that’s the style of baseball we need to play.”

St. Louis’ Alec Burleson hit a home run in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie. Paul DeJong added a two-run homer one inning later.

“It was great to put everything together and kind of see our potential,” Burleson said. “To finally see it all come together for us was really fun.”

St. Louis is now 2-5 after visits to Seattle and San Francisco and has not won consecutive games since April 11-12 against the Colorado Rockies. The Cardinals have not won three in a row all season.

The Cardinals will send right-hander Jack Flaherty (2-2, 3.29 ERA) to the mound in the series opener. The Los Angeles-area native does not have a decision in three career starts at Dodger Stadium, where he owns a 1.50 ERA and has 29 strikeouts in 18 innings.

In five career starts against Los Angeles, Flaherty is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA in 30 innings.

The Dodgers will counter with right-hander Dustin May (2-1, 3.07 ERA) as they attempt to purge a rough series at Pittsburgh from their system. Los Angeles dropped consecutive games against the Pirates by a combined 14-3 score and went 4-3 on a road trip against the Chicago Cubs and Pirates.

May earned a win over the Cubs on Saturday when he gave up two runs on two hits over 5 1/3 innings with three walks and six strikeouts. It was an improvement from an April 17 outing against the New York Mets in which he gave up five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

May has faced the Cardinals just once, when he yielded one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings during a 2019 no-decision. He struck out seven and walked one.

Los Angeles third baseman Max Muncy, the major league leader with 11 home runs, and right-hander Brusdar Graterol missed the Pittsburgh series while on the paternity list. Both are expected back to face the Cardinals. Last week, outfielder/infielder Mookie Betts and late-inning right-hander Evan Phillips also hit the paternity list.

Muncy’s return should help a sluggish Los Angeles offense. The Dodgers would have been swept at Pittsburgh if not for a late three-run home run from Chris Taylor on Tuesday that was the difference in an 8-7 victory.

A big problem for the Dodgers was the Pirates’ success on the basepaths. Pittsburgh went 12-for-13 on stolen-base attempts in the series, swiping three in the first inning on Thursday. The Dodgers also struggled against the speedy Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this season.

“As far as the guys that are here, there are some things we’ve got to get better at on both sides of the baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But we’re going to get our team back here, our full-strength team, soon.”

–Field Level Media

The Oakland Athletics will look to avoid a record-tying loss on Friday when they begin a three-game series against the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

Oakland has dropped 12 of its past 14 games and is 4-21 in April. The record for April losses in a single season is 22, held by the 1988 Baltimore Orioles.

Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers homered in the Athletics’ 8-7 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday in Anaheim, Calif. Oakland dropped three straight to the Angels after winning the series opener 11-10 in 10 innings on Monday.

One bright spot for the A’s has been the play of center fielder Esteury Ruiz, who had four stolen bases on Wednesday and is tied for the American League lead with 10 steals.

“That is exactly what this young man can do when he gets on base,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said of Ruiz, who added another theft on Thursday. “It’s creating excitement. He has that talent, that ability to impact a game with his speed.”

Oakland was expected to send left-hander Kyle Muller (0-2, 7.23 ERA) to the mound for the series opener, but his turn was pushed back to Saturday. Muller has given up 16 runs across 13 innings in his last three starts.

The A’s did not list a replacement for the Friday outing, but they made a change to the pitching staff on Thursday. Oakland optioned right-hander Luis Medina to Triple-A Las Vegas one day after he lost his major league debut against the Angels. Medina was tagged for eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits in five innings.

“I’m just going to work hard and come back stronger with more hunger,” Medina said postgame. “Pitch how I can pitch, because I know I can do much better than tonight.”

Right-hander Domingo Acevedo, who had been on the injured list due to a lower back strain, was activated to take Medina’s roster spot.

Cincinnati completed a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers on Wednesday when Nick Senzel hit a walk-off, two-run homer to give the Reds a 5-3 victory.

Senzel’s blast snapped Cincinnati’s eight-game homerless streak, the team’s longest such stretch since July 4-11, 1992.

“We knew it was going to come,” Reds manager David Bell said. “It was a matter of time. It couldn’t come at a better time.

“We’ve been scoring in other ways, which was great. We have the ability to hit homers, too. They will come without trying to do it. That was certainly not on Nick’s mind in that at-bat. It just happened because that is what happens when you put a good swing on the ball.”

Cincinnati will turn to right-hander Luis Cessa (0-3, 10.80 ERA), who has lost his past three starts. He allowed two runs over 4 2/3 innings in a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

Cessa, 31, was encouraged by the outing after giving up 11 runs and 14 hits over three-plus innings in a 14-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on April 16.

“I was being aggressive in the zone,” Cessa said after the outing at Pittsburgh. “That’s a key for me, to stay aggressive in the zone with all my pitches — fastball, slider, changeup. Really good things happened today. It was better for sure than my last outing.”

Cessa is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA in five career games (one start) vs. Oakland.

–Field Level Media

The New York Yankees will not fully exhale until Aaron Judge’s name appears on the lineup card.

After Judge left Thursday’s game with some right hip discomfort, the slugger is unlikely to play Friday night when the Yankees continue a four-game series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.

Judge’s early exit overshadowed New York’s 4-2 win in the series opener that featured 6 2/3 innings from ace Gerrit Cole along with solo homers by DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres and Jose Trevino. Judge came out in the fourth inning after appearing to grimace when he struck out in the second, a frame in which the Yankees scored three times.

Manager Aaron Boone did not provide much of an update on Judge, but in what seems like good news said no tests were scheduled on the slugger as of Thursday night. After Boone’s comments, Judge said he expected to miss the next few days but added that he was not concerned.

“Just a little grab in the hip area,” Judge said. “After that headfirst dive the other night, kind of the whole right side has been a little locked up. It wasn’t until the second-to-last swing in that at-bat that I kind of felt something grab.”

Judge’s injury stemmed from the second inning of the Yankees’ 12-6 win in Minnesota on Wednesday. After hitting a bases-clearing double in a five-run second inning, Judge was thrown out trying to steal third when he landed awkwardly on a headfirst slide.

“I don’t like taking our guy out, but we’ll see,” Boone said. “We’ll see what we have here the next couple of days.”

Whoever is in the lineup, the Yankees will attempt to earn their third straight win after scoring 16 runs in the past two games. In the prior three contests, New York was held to four runs total as it endured its first three-game losing streak of the season.

The Rangers are on their first four-game losing streak under new manager Bruce Bochy. The skid began immediately after they won six of seven, including three games in which they scored at least 12 runs.

Texas struck out 10 times Thursday against Cole and Michael King and has fanned 43 times over the past four games.

Clarke Schmidt (0-2, 6.30 ERA), who is coming off the best of his five outings, will start for the Yankees on Friday.

In a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, Schmidt allowed three unearned runs in a career-high 5 2/3 innings. He give up a two-run homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a solo shot to Daulton Varsho in the sixth after an error by shortstop Anthony Volpe.

Schmidt’s lone appearance against the Rangers occurred last Oct. 4, when he pitched two perfect innings.

Jacob deGrom (2-0, 3.04 ERA), who has a 1.57 ERA in his past four starts, will start for Texas. He last pitched Sunday, when he tied his season high with 11 strikeouts and allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits over six innings during a 5-2 win over Oakland.

The right-hander threw 80 pitches against the Athletics after leaving his previous start due to a sore wrist.

“I felt good,” deGrom said postgame. “I came out of the one before this a little early out of precaution but felt really good today, so that was a huge plus. I think (I’m rounding into form).”

In six career starts against the Yankees, deGrom is 2-4 with a 3.51 ERA, though he hasn’t faced them since 2018.

–Field Level Media

When Zach Eflin was signed by the Tampa Bay Rays to become a part of the rotation’s front end, the organization made a major commitment.

So far, Eflin is proving worthy of his $40 million, three-year deal, the richest contract Tampa Bay has ever given to a free agent.

The right-hander will get the ball Friday night in Chicago when the Rays face the White Sox in the second game of a four-game series. The White Sox enter on an eight-game losing streak.

The two teams will be matching up for the fifth time in eight days. The Rays swept three games against Chicago last weekend in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Eflin (3-0, 2.81 ERA) basically is serving as a rotation replacement for Corey Kluber, who signed with the division rival Boston Red Sox.

The former Philadelphia pitcher is posting better numbers than he did with the Phillies over seven seasons, when he went a combined 36-45 with a 4.49 ERA in 127 appearances (115 starts).

Eflin has claimed a victory in each of his three starts for his new team, though a bout of lower back tightness forced him to miss two starts after he beat the Oakland Athletics on April 7.

In his return to action on Sunday, the 29-year-old Orlando native silenced the White Sox over five innings. He allowed one run on five hits while striking out four in the Rays’ 4-1 win in the series finale.

Across two career outings (one start) against Chicago, Eflin is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in seven innings. He has allowed three hits and no walks while striking out six.

His teammates got their bats back on track in the series opener against the White Sox, breaking a two-game losing streak with a 14-5 victory. Tampa Bay posted a season-high run total while collecting 16 hits and three home runs.

After the Rays entered the game scoreless over 19 innings, manager Kevin Cash watched his Tampa Bay club transform into an offensive juggernaut again following consecutive shutouts by Houston Astros pitching.

Brandon Lowe, Yandy Diaz, Josh Lowe and Luke Raley each had three hits for the Rays on Thursday.

“Look, our offense has been really productive over the first month,” Cash said. “Quiet nights (like the two against Houston) don’t mean things are going sideways.”

Chicago manager Pedro Grifol, who was ejected for the first time in his career during the lopsided loss, saw nothing good from his side.

“We didn’t play defense today, didn’t hit with runners in scoring position,” Grifol said. “We didn’t do much of anything.”

The White Sox are riding the majors’ longest active losing streak, and they have been outscored 29-5 in the past three games.

In his sixth start of the season, Chicago’s Lucas Giolito (1-2, 4.50 ERA) will look to rebound his Sunday loss to Eflin and the Rays. The right-hander surrendered four runs on five hits — including home runs by Raley and Harold Ramirez — in seven innings.

Giolito has put up strong career numbers against the Rays over seven starts, 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

Tampa Bay is hitting just .195 against Giolito, making the Rays one of three squads (along with the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies) that he has held to a team batting average under .200.

–Field Level Media

The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, who battled each other for the National League East championship to the final day a year ago, renew their rivalry on Friday when they open a four-game series in New York.

The teams tied for first place in 2022 with 101 wins, but the Braves won the tiebreaker based on their 10-9 head-to-head advantage during the regular season. The key was Atlanta’s three-game home sweep of the Mets in the penultimate series, which earned the Braves their fifth straight division championship.

The Braves come into the series after wining three of four games in Miami. However, they took a stinging loss on Thursday, as the Marlins erased a four-run, ninth-inning deficit and pulled out a 5-4 victory.

The Mets beat the visiting Washington Nationals 9-8 on Thursday to end a four-game losing streak and salvage one win from the three-game series. Pete Alonso ended an 0-for-16 stretch by going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

After Washington scored five runs in the eighth to take an 8-7 lead, the Mets rallied for two in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double from Alonso and an RBI triple from Jeff McNeil.

New York manager Buck Showalter said, “Our guys came in when that inning was over and we’d relinquished the lead and just said, ‘Let’s go.’ They were really focused coming in there instead of saying, ‘It’s just not our night.’ That’s never been the mentality of these guys.

“Really proud of them. It’s fun to watch, fun to be a part of just watching them perform.”

The pitching matchup for the series opener features New York left-hander David Peterson (1-3, 7.36 ERA) against Atlanta southpaw Max Fried (1-0, 0.60).

Peterson lost to the host San Francisco Giants in his most recent start on Saturday. He pitched five innings and was roughed up for seven runs on seven hits and one walk with eight strikeouts. He remains in the rotation because of injuries to Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer’s 10-game suspension for use of a foreign substance on the ball.

“There are two sides of the coin,” Peterson said. “I feel good with my stuff and there’s good results in there. And then there’s just some things that are hurting me right now and those need to be cleaned up. And we’ve got some guys down and so as a part of this rotation, I need to be better and hold up my end of the bargain.”

Peterson is 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA in eight career appearances, seven starts, against the Braves. His last appearance vs. Atlanta was on Oct. 1, when he worked two-thirds of a scoreless inning.

Fried has retained the form that made him runner-up in the 2022 NL Cy Young Award voting. After sustaining a left hamstring strain in the season opener and ending up on the injured list, Fried has returned to work two scoreless stints.

In his latest outing, against the Houston Astros on Sunday, he received no decision after tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings and yielding three hits and three walks. He struck out five.

“I made some good pitches when I needed to,” Fried said. “I felt really confident.”

In 21 career appearances (16 starts) against the Mets, Fried is 7-5 with a 2.78 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 97 innings. Last season, he was 3-2 with a 2.79 ERA in five starts against New York.

Atlanta continues to have trouble closing games. A.J. Minter, the designated closer until Raisel Iglesias returns from the injured list, blew the lead in the ninth inning on Thursday. The left-hander has given up two or more runs in three of his past four outings.

Iglesias and center fielder Michael Harris II are both on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Gwinnett and are not expected to be activated for the New York series.

–Field Level Media

An eight-run loss to the Texas Rangers on April 16 dropped the Houston Astros two games below .500 in advance of a daunting nine-game stretch against a trio of postseason favorites.

By that juncture, the Astros had won just one of five series, and given their injury-ravaged roster, they seemed in bad shape prior to hosting the Toronto Blue Jays before hitting the road for a six-game jaunt through Atlanta and Tampa Bay.

But instead of dropping in the standings, the Astros amassed seven wins during that stretch, including a sweep of the Braves and consecutive shutouts of the high-scoring Rays. The Astros are suddenly riding high as they host the Philadelphia Phillies in a rematch of the 2022 World Series starting on Friday, the opener of a three-game weekend series and a six-game homestand.

“I think we’re happy with the way we’re playing,” Houston right-hander Hunter Brown said. “That’s three series wins in a row. So just try to keep it rolling and keep it on the right track.”

Brown twirled seven shutout innings in the Astros’ 1-0 victory over the Rays on Wednesday. He followed a stellar outing from right-hander Luis Garcia, who worked six innings in a 5-0 win on Tuesday, his second consecutive scoreless outing.

The timing of their exceptional starting pitching is welcome, for the Astros remain without Jose Altuve (thumb) and Michael Brantley (shoulder), both of whom landed on the injured list prior to the season, and Yordan Alvarez, who missed the series against the Rays due to a neck strain.

Houston had yet to place Alvarez on the IL, and his status for the Phillies series was undetermined.

Left-hander Framber Valdez (2-2, 2.25 ERA) will start the series opener for the Astros on Friday. He logged his fourth consecutive quality start on Saturday against the Braves, allowing three runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts over seven innings in the Astros’ 6-3 victory.

Brown and Valdez are the only pitchers in the majors who have thrown at least seven innings in three starts this season.

Valdez is 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA in three career starts against the Phillies, all coming last season, two of them in the World Series. He allowed two runs on six hits and five walks with 18 strikeouts over 12 1/3 innings while defeating the Phillies in Games 2 and 6 of the Fall Classic.

Right-hander Aaron Nola (1-2, 5.40 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Phillies. He logged a season-high seven innings in a no-decision in his previous start, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts in the Phillies’ 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on April 21.

Nola is 2-0 with 19 strikeouts in 12 2/3 scoreless innings over two career regular-season starts against Houston. However, in two World Series starts vs. the Astros, Nola allowed eight runs on 13 hits and two walks with nine strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings, getting a no-decision in Game 1 and taking a 5-0 loss in Game 4.

Like the Astros, Philadelphia has won three consecutive series. The Phillies blanked the Seattle Mariners 1-0 on Thursday behind left-hander Matt Strahm, who allowed two hits while recording five strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. Strahm, in his first season with the Phillies, appears to have fit right in with the culture of the club.

“I’ve been around a few clubhouses, and honestly this is the one I felt meshed the best,” Strahm said. “It’s going to be a fun ride.”

Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos said of returning to Houston, “There’s going to be some uncomfortable memories that I’ll have to confront, just being the last out of the World Series there and things like that, but I’m excited to get back there.”

–Field Level Media

The Milwaukee Brewers will turn to veteran left-hander Wade Miley when they welcome the Los Angeles Angels for the first time since 2016 on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

Miley (3-1, 1.96 ERA) will be opposed by left-hander Tyler Anderson (1-0, 7.20 ERA).

The Angels held off Oakland 8-7 on Thursday behind Shohei Ohtani, who pitched six innings for his fourth win despite giving up five runs — all in the fourth. Ohtani also had a triple, double and single, coming up just short of the cycle with an eighth-inning fly out to the wall in right-center.

Milwaukee snapped a three-game skid with a 6-2 victory over Detroit on Wednesday behind Freddy Peralta, who allowed two runs over six innings. The Brewers were idle Thursday.

“I thought it was just a great performance pitching-wise, in general, for Freddy,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “After losing the first two games (of the series), just being efficient and doing a great job, putting us in a great position with our bullpen.”

The Brewers will have to sweep the Angels to finish the nine-game homestand with a winning record.

Rookie Joey Wiemer continued a hot week with a homer and double in the win over Detroit on Wednesday. Wiemer is hitting .348 (8-for-23) with three doubles and a homer in his last seven games.

“Joey has to use that talent that he has and that strength he has as a feather in his cap and to be able to drive balls out the other way is something that makes you better, lets you wait a little longer,” Counsell said.

Victor Caratini also homered for the Brewers, who are 9-2 this season when hitting two homers in a game.

Miley, limited to 37 innings in nine games with the Cubs last season due to injuries, has been the Brewers’ most effective starter. In his last start, he allowed two runs in five innings to get the victory in a 5-4 win over the Red Sox.

Miley has not allowed a run in two of his four starts, and opponents are batting just .209 against him.

Miley is 5-1 with a 3.30 ERA in eight career starts vs. the Angels, the last time in 2019 when he was with Houston.

Anderson, 15-5 with a 2.57 ERA as an All-Star last season with the Dodgers, will be making his fifth start. He has not won since his first start when he allowed four hits over six scoreless innings in a 6-0 victory at Oakland on April 2.

In three starts since then, Anderson has allowed 17 runs, 16 earned, on 22 hits in 14 innings, allowing five home runs.

Anderson kept the ball in the park in his last start, but was tagged for six runs, five earned, on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings with just one strikeout. He did not get the decision in an 11-8 loss to the Royals.

“I thought Tyler pitched fine,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said after Anderson’s last start. “If he goes that deep in the game most nights, we’re going to win.”

Anderson is 2-2 with a 5.82 ERA in four career starts against the Brewers. He is 1-2 with an 8.59 in three starts at American Family Field, allowing 14 runs in 14 2/3 innings.

The Angels have won four straight against Milwaukee and eight of last 10.

–Field Level Media