Flexen, Mets to take on Mikolas, Cardinals on Saturday

New York Mets (11-8, first in the NL East) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (10-9, third in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Saturday, 2:15 p.m. EDT

LINE: Mets favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis and New York will face off at Busch Stadium on Saturday.

The Cardinals are 5-3 in home games. St. Louis has slugged .466, good for second in the National League. Marcell Ozuna leads the team with a .682 slugging percentage, including 11 extra-base hits and eight home runs.

The Mets are 9-5 on the road. New York ranks third in the majors in hitting with a .270 batting average, Jeff McNeil leads the club with an average of .391. The Mets won the last meeting 5-4. Seth Lugo earned his first victory and Pete Alonso went 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for New York. Adam Wainwright took his second loss for St. Louis.

TOP PERFORMERS: Paul DeJong leads the Cardinals with 25 hits and has 10 RBIs. Yadier Molina has 14 hits and is batting .326 over the last 10 games for St. Louis.

Alonso leads the Mets with 14 extra base hits and is slugging .739. Michael Conforto is 10-for-36 with four doubles, three home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for New York.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 6-4, .279 batting average, 4.76 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs

Mets: 5-5, .269 batting average, 6.44 ERA, outscored by 14 runs

Cardinals Injuries: Mike Mayers: 10-day IL (shoulder), Carlos Martinez: 10-day IL (shoulder), Luke Gregerson: 10-day IL (shoulder), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm), Justin Williams: 10-day IL (hand), Tyler O'Neill: 10-day IL (arm), Harrison Bader: 10-day IL (hamstring).

Mets Injuries: Drew Smith: 10-day IL (elbow), Jacob deGrom: 10-day IL (elbow), Brandon Nimmo: day-to-day (neck), Yoenis Cespedes: 10-day IL (heels), Jed Lowrie: 10-day IL (knee), Todd Frazier: 10-day IL (oblique).