The second half of the 2015 MLB season is already underway with Friday's afternoon game between the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox. One of tonight's marquee matchups features the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, who open up a three-game series at Busch Stadium at 8:15 p.m. ET.
Scroll to the bottom for the live stream and radio broadcast.
The Cardinals (56-33) have the best record in the MLB and look to continue their winning ways down the stretch. They'll send starter Lance Lynn (6-5, 2.90 ERA) to the mound as he looks to shake off a rough outing (4 IP, 5 ER) against the Pittsburgh Pirates just before the All-Star break.
While he faces an advantage against the lowly Mets' offense, he'll have to duel it out with young right-hander Noah Syndergaard (4-4, 3.11 ERA). Both starters will be facing their opponents for the first time this year, but Lynn has previous experience against the Mets while Syndergaard will make his debut against the Cardinals in his rookie season.
Lynn is 1-3 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in six games (four starts) against the Mets.
Syndergaard is up for the challenge. He's 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his last three starts against the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
The All-Star break couldn't have come at a better time for the Cardinals. They dropped three in a row to the division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates in their final contests of the first half, including two devastating walk-offs to watch their lead in the NL Central wither to 2.5 games. They also lost two out of three to the Chicago Cubs the series prior.
However, outfielder Matt Holliday returns to the lineup on Friday after missing over a month with a quad injury. The Cards hope Holliday can provide an offensive spark for their lineup, which has averaged just 3.74 runs per game since the beginning of June (their season average is 3.99).
On the other hand, the Mets (47-42) have won six of their last seven games and general manager Sandy Alderson is looking to upgrade the team's struggling offense before the trade deadline. Their pitching has been outstanding (their 3.42 starter's ERA is seventh in the MLB) and the club sits just two games behind the first-place Washington Nationals in the NL East.
They'll too face a tough task against Lynn, especially with their lack of power. Outfielder Curtis Granderson leads the team in home runs (13) and first baseman Lucas Duda and shortstop Wilmer Flores are tied for the lead in RBIs (38).
Don't expect a ton of runs to be scored in this weekend series. After Lynn and Syndergaard square off on Friday, the battle of the seasoned veterans will take place on Saturday when John Lackey faces Bartolo Colon and Sunday's game will feature Michael Wacha versus the red-hot Jon Niese.
Check out the live stream for tonight's game here as well as the live radio broadcast here (STL) or here (NYM).
