Cardinals' Probable Starters for Upcoming Giants Series

Left-hander Quinn Mathews took the hard-luck loss, but pitched quite well in his last outing against San Francisco, allowing just two runs over six innings for the first quality start of his career. San Francisco's dimensions are very pitcher friendly, and the same is true in St. Louis.

Only one of Mathews' starts this season has truly gone south, and that was in Philadelphia last month. Since then, he has been a different pitcher, and he'll get the ball rolling for the Cardinals as they begin their series with the Giants. He is 1-3 with a 4.11 ERA on the season.

Tuesday: Andre Pallante

Andre Pallante pitched into the sixth inning in San Francisco last week and was in line for the win after allowing just one run. But the Cardinals bullpen collapsed again, blowing a 6-1 lead and leading to perhaps the most crushing loss of the season.

But Pallante has still been one of their most consistent starting pitchers this season, having gone 12-6 with a 3.45 ERA. He is back after an elbow injury cost him some time, and while he may not go too deep in the game, he can be counted on to keep the ball on the ground and in the ballpark.

Wednesday: Matthew Liberatore

Despite a rough season, Matthew Liberatore was actually quite a bit better against the White Sox, allowing two runs over 4 1/3 innings pitched. Still, he is 5-14 with a 5.53 ERA. It clearly has not been his best season, so this is where things might get a little difficult for the Cardinals.

They aren't fighting for a playoff spot at this point, but the experiment with Liberatore in the rotation could be nearing its end with other options emerging for 2027. Gordon Graceffo relieved Liberatore in his last start and could be used for length out of the bullpen.