St. Louis Cardinals pitchers have struck out the second-fewest batters in the major leagues this season with 441, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies.

The Cardinals will seek more punchouts on Friday when they continue their nine-game homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers — a team that is tough to strike out.

St. Louis started this stretch by losing two of three games to the Kansas City Royals while allowing 22 runs.

“You’re about to face the Dodgers, who don’t punch out a whole lot, Toronto, doesn’t punch out at all, so this is going to be a really good stretch for us,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “It’s going to be a good test, one I’m looking forward to.”

St. Louis will open this series with its most overpowering pitcher in right-hander Sonny Gray (6-1, 3.65 ERA).

After allowing the Philadelphia Phillies to score seven runs in 3 2/3 innings on May 14, Gray allowed just three runs in 19 innings in his next three starts. He struck out 25 batters and walked just two during that span.

He allowed four hits and struck out 10 batters over seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.

“I just feel like, even after my last outing, I felt very good about how I threw the ball and how the ball is coming out of my hand,” Gray said after that victory. “I had a really good plan going into the day. Executed it pretty well. Did some things that I hadn’t been able to do thus far this year.

“I know I’ve been making strides to that. Worked on it throughout the week in the bullpen and came up with a good visual for me, and (I) executed some things a little bit differently. It was a really good team to do that against.”

Gray is 1-4 with a 3.35 ERA in seven career starts against the Dodgers.

Los Angeles will start the series with left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1, 8.00), who won his most recent appearance by throwing four shutout innings in relief in a 19-2 victory over the Athletics on May 15.

Wrobleski won his one career start against the Cardinals despite allowing three homers and four runs in five innings of a 7-6 game last Aug. 16.

The Dodgers could activate relievers Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech for this series. Yates has been on the 15-day injured list with a hamstring strain while Kopech has been on the 60-day IL with a shoulder impingement.

Both pitchers were proclaimed just about good to go after wrapping up rehabilitation work this week.

“Both of them came out well,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “As we look today, there’s a good possibility this weekend that both guys will be active.”

Former Cardinals utility man Tommy Edman returned to the Dodgers’ lineup in the 6-5 victory over the New York Mets Thursday after missing time with ankle inflammation.

Roberts elected to rest infielders Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy on Thursday ahead of the team’s six-game trip to St. Louis and San Diego. Freeman, who came off the bench as a pinch-hitter, should be back in the lineup Friday. He leads the National League in batting average at .363.

–Field Level Media