ANALYSIS: We're gonna ride the hot hand here. The Cardinals have won eight games in a row and 10 of their last 11. The Cardinals are pretty big underdogs here and it's due to the pitching matchup. Jake Woodford goes for them and he's only made five starts with a season high of 5 2/3 innings pitched. In three outings this month, though, he has a 2.03 ERA and shut the Brewers down last time he faced them. And for whatever reason, the Brewers have hit much worse at home this season (.226/.318/.388). As for Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, he has a 5.73 ERA in three starts against the Cardinals this year.

ANALYSIS: The Cardinals are riding high right now, having won seven of eight -- all against contenders. They'll get another shot here against the Padres. Those Padres are so hard up for pitching they just signed Vince Velasquez and are starting him here. Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas hasn't been good, but the Cardinals were off Thursday while the Padres played in San Francisco and had to burn most of their important relievers before flying halfway across the country. The signs point toward a St. Louis win.

ANALYSIS: Mariners starter Chris Flexen looked bad last time out, but it was his second straight start against the Diamondbacks and a quick turn-around like that is generally a disadvantage for the pitcher. Prior to that, Flexen had a 2.93 ERA in his last seven starts. He'll get back on track. The Royals put scheduled starter Brady Singer on the IL and brought up Jon Heasley from Double-A to start. He's been good there, but it's Double-A and he hasn't thrown more than 81 pitches since Aug. 6. Plus, the Mariners were off Thursday while the Royals' bullpen was beaten up pretty severely the past two days. Take the better team with the better pitching situation.

ANALYSIS: The Reds do get All-Star outfielder Jesse Winker back, but can he cure all that ills them? They've lost six straight series, four of those against the Marlins, Tigers, Cubs and Pirates. They've hit .209/.266/.335 while averaging 2.7 runs per game in their last 10 games. Now they get to face Cy Young contender Walker Buehler. The Dodgers have won 17 of his last 23 starts and are 32-10 since the trade deadline. This number isn't near high enough.

ANALYSIS: The Mets somehow took two of three from the Yankees last weekend, but have still lost six of eight overall and don't inspire any sort of confidence. Mets starter Taijuan Walker has a 7.38 ERA since the All-Star break, with the Mets going 2-8 in his starts. The Phillies start Cy Young contender Zack Wheeler, who has been good his last two times out after a slight rough patch. Last time he faced the Mets he threw a shutout, too.