Dustin May will return to the mound for St. Louis after missing a start with an injury as the Cardinals visit the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night in the decisive contest of their three-game series.

The Cardinals recorded a 5-3 victory in the series opener on Tuesday before the Braves ended a three-game losing streak with a 5-1 win on Wednesday.

The Cardinals skipped May’s last start, against Miami, because of lower back tightness. The veteran right-hander (5-6, 4.30 ERA) will oppose Atlanta’s Hurston Waldrep (0-0, 0.00), who will make his first start of the season.

May will try to rebound from his worst game of the year when he was knocked out after giving up six runs in two innings against Kansas City on June 21. That was a shocking turn of events, as he was coming off a complete-game, one-hit shutout vs. San Diego and had thrown 15 consecutive scoreless frames.

“He’s feeling good,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “He was able to touch the mound again and throw his side a couple days ago. Came out of that feeling really good, so he’s a full go (on Thursday).”

May has not fared well in his career vs. the Braves, going 0-2 with a 5.68 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against them.

Waldrep, a right-hander, has been recovering from right elbow surgery to remove loose bodies that shut him down early in spring training. He made 10 appearances (nine starts) last season and went 6-1 with a 2.88 ERA. He was expected to be in Atlanta’s rotation this season.

Waldrep did pitch two scoreless innings of relief against San Francisco in his 2026 debut on Friday and is not expected to go deep into his first career outing vs. St. Louis.

He could be paired with Grant Holmes, who could be moved to long relief. The right-hander threw four scoreless innings and allowed only one hit in his last outing against the Giants on Saturday. The Braves lost 5-0.

“We’re not sure yet,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said after Wednesday’s game. “We’ve gotta figure that out. All we know is it’ll be Waldrep tomorrow. I’m not sure after that.”

Holmes has struggled against the Cardinals, pitching to an 11.25 ERA without a decision in three career appearances (one start). That start came last year, and he gave up five runs in three innings.

St. Louis right fielder Jordan Walker, who played at Decatur High School in the Atlanta area, had one of the team’s two hits on Wednesday. He doubled in a run and also threw out the fleet-footed Michael Harris II at the plate.

“He stayed on that ball really well for an RBI, and that throw was on the money, a real strong throw,” Marmol said. “He continues to just take really good steps on both sides.”

The Atlanta offense had some minor victories. Drake Baldwin, who ended an 0-for-36 streak on Tuesday, had a hit and scored two runs in Wednesday’s win. Austin Riley ended an 0-for-17 slump with an RBI single.

“It’s been kind of a Murphy’s Law here for a few weeks, but maybe it’s a sign of the tide turning a little bit,” Weiss said. “Things can snowball in this game one way or the other — and it’s certainly snowballed the wrong direction here recently — but some good signs tonight.”

–Field Level Media

After recording their first series sweep at Yankee Stadium since 2008, the Detroit Tigers will look to carry the momentum into this weekend’s set against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.

The teams will play three games over four days, beginning on Thursday. The series will take a break on Friday due to the World Cup round of 32 match between Australia and Egypt being played across the street at the home field of the Dallas Cowboys.

Detroit completed a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees on Wednesday with a 6-2 victory after scoring four runs in the 11th inning.

The Tigers’ starting pitchers allowed one earned run on four hits with 26 strikeouts and one walk in 19 1/3 innings during the series.

“We’re getting better,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said. “We had a productive June and I’m loving how July started. We played relaxed, we played fairly clean, we executed some big at-bats and we’re walking out of here with a sweep.”

The injury-plagued Rangers also have been trending in the right direction in recent weeks, finishing 16-12 in June. Texas had won six straight before losing 9-4 to the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday.

Rangers shortstop Corey Seager was placed on the 10-day injured list due to lower back inflammation on Wednesday, marking his third stint on the list this season.

Wyatt Langford landed on the injured list with a left hamstring strain on Saturday, and fellow outfielder Brandon Nimmo is day-to-day with a sprained left shoulder.

“Here’s what I know about baseball: it doesn’t stop for anybody,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “These guys have a will to win.. … I don’t think anyone’s relying on anybody.”

Even with the injuries, Texas finds itself tied with the Seattle Mariners atop the American League West standings.

“We’re in it,” Schumaker said. “We’re more than in it. We feel like this is who we should have been a couple months ago. This is what you’re hoping for at the midway point. That’s all you can ask for.”

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (8-7, 3.95 ERA) will take the mound for Texas in the series opener. He won his third straight start last Friday, tossing seven shutout innings in a 5-4 road victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Eovaldi, 36, has posted a 2.70 ERA with a 24-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his past three outings, covering 20 innings.

Eovaldi is 5-0 with a 2.54 ERA in eight career starts versus Detroit.

The Tigers will counter with left-hander Framber Valdez (4-5, 4.05), who gave up four runs over six innings in a no-decision against the Houston Astros last Saturday.

The 32-year-old Valdez, who is 9-6 with a 2.80 ERA in 20 career games (17 starts) versus Texas, including 1-1 with a 2.70 mark in three outings last season.

The Tigers will be without reliever Will Vest this weekend after he landed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with inflammation in the back of his right elbow.

“He’s a guy that wants to pitch through everything,” Hinch said. “But him not being able to locate pitches, him not feeling great after outings, we’ve got to get this checked out and see exactly what we’re dealing with.”

–Field Level Media

Coming off a shutout loss to Tampa Bay, perhaps the last person the Kansas City Royals want to see on the mound on Thursday is Ian Seymour.

Especially after the left-hander dominated them last week.

Hoping teammate Junior Caminero continues his power surge, Seymour will try to help the visiting Rays extend their winning streak to a season-high eight games on Thursday night against the struggling Royals.

After Casey Legumina threw 1 1/3 hitless innings against Kansas City last Thursday, Seymour (4-1, 4.32 ERA) came on and yielded no hits and only one walk while striking out seven batters over 6 2/3 stellar frames. However, teammate Craig Kimbrel allowed Kansas City’s only hit, a two-run homer in the ninth inning to Carter Jensen, during the Rays’ 13-2 win.

Seymour has a 2.84 ERA with 19 strikeouts in his last four outings, in which he’s started twice and has been used in bulk two times.

“When you control the count and throw in the strike zone — good things happen,” said Seymour, slated for the starter role on Thursday. “It comes down to the reps that longer outings allow you to have. From a delivery standpoint, you just feel a little more crisp.”

While Seymour hopes for another strong performance, Caminero will look to continue his impressive offensive run.

With a two-run homer in the first inning of the Rays’ 4-0 win at Kansas City on Wednesday, Caminero became the youngest player since at least 1900 to go deep in six consecutive games. At 22 years, 361 days old, he topped a mark set by then-23-year-old Ken Griffey Jr. with his ninth home run in the last eight games — during which he’s batting .452 with 20 RBIs.

Caminero is hitting .429 with six of his 24 home runs and 14 RBIs in five games vs. Kansas City this season.

“Running out of words,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Caminero. “Really exciting that he’s doing it.”

Tampa Bay has outscored opponents 47-13 during its second seven-game winning streak of 2026. The Rays own a 32-9 run advantage while beating the Royals four times during that stretch.

After outscoring the Royals 14-4 in the first two games of this set, Tampa Bay secured its first winning road series since May 11-13. Its only road series sweep of 2026 came against the Chicago White Sox from April 14-16.

Kansas City, meanwhile, has been outscored 60-16 while losing six of the last seven games overall. However, star Bobby Witt Jr. is batting .469 during an eight-game home hitting streak.

Royals manager Matt Quatraro said he expects Stephen Kolek (4-2, 4.15 ERA) to start the series finale. The right-hander has been away from the club due to the premature birth of his daughter.

Kolek has not pitched since he allowed nine runs and nine hits — including three homers — in just 1 2/3 innings of a 12-10 home loss to St. Louis on June 21.

“Those days are going to happen,” Kolek told The Kansas City Star. “It’s definitely tough to pitch when you don’t have command over stuff like that. “So we’re going to clean it up.”

This will be Kolek’s first appearance against the Rays.

–Field Level Media