St. Louis, meanwhile, is trying to build on some real momentum. Alec Burleson hit three homers in the comeback win, and the Cardinals have now won back-to-back games after dropping three straight before that. They're still under .500 at 56-57, but a road series win over a Yankees team missing this much thump would be a nice notch for a club that's been streaky all year.
The injury list is lopsided here — St. Louis is dealing with a couple of long-term IL situations in Ramon Urias and reliever Max Rajcic, but nothing close to the collection of names New York is missing. That gap matters more in a series than in any single game, but it's part of why the Yankees, even at home and favored, feel a little less airtight than their record suggests.
Both teams enter having split their last five, but the way they got there says something: the Yankees have been grinding out low-scoring games, while the Cardinals just showed they can put up a crooked number in a hurry when the bats get going. If Weathers and Dobbins both pitch like their last outings, expect a tighter, quieter night than the one these two just gave everybody.