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The St. Louis Cardinals will come to Chase Field for a three game series with the Diamondbacks starting Monday. Joe Saunders will take the hill for the Diamondbacks, facing Lance Lynn in what could become a strong pitchers duel. Lynn was the first in the National League to five wins, and Saunders has posted a 1.24 ERA so far this season.
Saunders faced the Cardinals once last year, a 4-1 Diamondback victory where he gave up only 1 hit over five scoreless innings. Arizona will need strong pitching performances against the NL Central leading Cardinals, who have a 17-11 record to Arizona's 14-15. The Diamondbacks are struggling, batting just .221 with runners in scoring position and having dropped two of three to the Mets. Gerardo Parra showed some life in the last game of the Mets series, collecting two of the team's four hits. They'll look for more of that for him, as a strong homestand could put the Diamondbacks over .500 and bolster spirits for the team, who have gone 7-9 at home this year.
The series breakdown:
Game 1: Lance Lynn (5-0, 1.60 ERA) vs. Joe Saunders (2-1, 1.24 ERA) - 7:40pm MDT
Game 2: Jake Westbrook (3-2, 2.12 ERA) vs. Ian Kennedy (3-1, 3.23 ERA) - 7:40pm MDT
Game 3: TBA vs. Wade Miley (3-0, 2.33 ERA) - 7:40pm MDT
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