Preview: Yankees At Cardinals

[May 28, 2014]  Matt Holliday ended a long homer drought and aims to follow up a strong overall performance when the St. Louis Cardinals host the New York Yankees on Wednesday in the finale of a three-game set. Holliday went 3-for-3 in Tuesday’s win and hit his first homer since April 28, breaking a 24-game drought without a long ball. New York will try to win the series behind Hiroki Kuroda, who is 0-7 in 11 road starts since winning last July 25 against the Texas Rangers.

Holliday’s blast was just his third of the season but the player with eight consecutive seasons of 20 or more homers isn’t fretting about his power issues. “You play this game long enough, you’re going to have a period of time where things ... you don’t get what you want,” Holliday told reporters afterward. “I don’t want to look back on the past. It’s about what I’m doing now and the rest of the season.” St. Louis has won 10 of its past 13 games while the Yankees had a three-game winning streak halted when they were blanked by Lance Lynn in Tuesday’s 6-0 loss.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, YES (New York), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Hiroki Kuroda (3-3, 4.55 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Shelby Miller (6-3, 3.18)

Kuroda has won just once in his last seven outings – that coming May 18 against Pittsburgh. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings in his last turn and gave up four runs (two earned) and eight hits in a no-decision against the Chicago White Sox. Kuroda is 1-2 with a 3.19 ERA in five career starts against the Cardinals, all coming when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2008-11.

Miller had a five-start winning streak halted when he lost to the Cincinnati Reds in his last outing. He gave up four runs and five hits while lasting just five innings. Miller has allowed five or fewer hits in six of his 10 starts but has issued 30 walks in 56 2/3 innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira (wrist) has missed the first two games of the series and is questionable for the finale.

2. Holliday is 11-for-26 with a homer, three doubles and seven RBIs against Kuroda.

3. C Brian McCann (0-for-6) and OF Alfonso Soriano (0-for-2) are the only New York hitters who have faced Miller.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 7, Yankees 5

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