The Cincinnati Reds make their second trip of the season into St. Louis as they play the final 3 in their stretch of 20 games in 20 days. The Reds won just one of the previous three played in St. Louis and hope to leave town with much better results this time.
The division standings going into play today:
| Central | W | L | PCT | GB | L10 | STRK | exW-L | RS/G | RA/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | 15 | 10 | 0.600 | 0.0 | 8-2 | W2 | 14-11 | 3.9 | 3.5 |
| STL | 14 | 10 | 0.583 | 0.5 | 6-4 | L2 | 15-9 | 4.8 | 3.8 |
| CIN | 14 | 12 | 0.538 | 1.5 | 5-5 | W1 | 16-10 | 4.7 | 3.8 |
| MIL | 12 | 11 | 0.522 | 2.0 | 7-3 | L1 | 11-12 | 4.2 | 4.4 |
| CHC | 9 | 15 | 0.375 | 5.5 | 4-6 | L1 | 10-14 | 3.3 | 4.0 |
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— The Pirates leapfrogged into first place yesterday by besting the Cardinals in the rubber match of a three game series. They will travel to Milwaukee today and then host the Nationals.
— The Cardinals swept the Nationals last week, but lost 2 out of 3 against the Pirates over the weekend. They’ll face Cincinnati and then Milwaukee.
— The Reds went from first to third on the basepaths and in the division standings with their series loss in Washington. They’ll complete their 10-game road trip in St. Louis and Chicago.
— Milwaukee finished a 3-3 West coast road trip last week against the Padres and Dodgers. They’ll host division rivals Pittsburgh and St. Louis this week.
— After losing 2 of 3 to Cincinnati, the Cubs took 3 out of 4 from the Marlins in Miami. They return to the Windy City to host the Padres and the Reds.
WHERE TO WATCH
All three games will be broadcast locally on FSO, or if you are in the St. Louis television market, Fox Sports Midwest. If you are outside either of these viewing areas, Tuesday’s game will be on MLB Network.
ROSTER CHANGES SINCE THEY LAST MET
The only change to the Cardinals roster was Matt Adams going on the 15-day DL last week. Infielder Jermaine Curtis was called up from AAA.
The Reds, of course, have lost Johnny Cueto and Ryan Hanigan to the disabled list, while Sean Marshall made his return this weekend.
PROBABLE BATTING LINEUP
| Player | Bats | Pos | Age | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS+ | BABIP | SB/CS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Carpenter | (L) | 2B | 27 | 99 | .273 | .340 | .466 | 124 | .300 | 0/0 |
| Carlos Beltran | (S) | RF | 36 | 89 | .289 | .337 | .530 | 139 | .295 | 0/1 |
| Matt Holliday | (R) | LF | 33 | 94 | .278 | .394 | .418 | 128 | .308 | 0/0 |
| Allen Craig | (R) | 1B | 28 | 94 | .261 | .298 | .352 | 82 | .329 | 0/0 |
| Yadier Molina | (R) | C | 30 | 94 | .292 | .330 | .427 | 111 | .308 | 1/0 |
| David Freese | (R) | 3B | 30 | 51 | .178 | .275 | .222 | 42 | .235 | 1/0 |
| Jon Jay | (L) | CF | 28 | 93 | .226 | .278 | .357 | 77 | .262 | 1/1 |
| Pete Kozma | (R) | SS | 25 | 83 | .270 | .325 | .365 | 94 | .306 | 1/0 |
Since the Reds last visited St. Louis, Jon Jay has been moved out of the leadoff spot. Typically, either Carlos Beltran or Allen Craig has batted 2nd with the other player batting cleanup.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
• Mon 8:15pm: Adam Wainwright (R) vs. Mat Latos (R)
• Tues 8:15pm: Jamie Garcia (L) vs. Bronson Arroyo (R)
• Wed 1:45pm: Lance Lynn (R) vs. Homer Bailey (R)
| Name | ERA | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | HR/9 | BB/9 | K/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wainwright | 1.93 | 1.87 | 0.99 | .340 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 8.9 |
| Latos | 2.16 | 2.86 | 1.05 | .303 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 8.9 |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Garcia | 2.89 | 3.33 | 1.43 | .310 | 0.6 | 3.9 | 8.0 |
| Arroyo | 4.24 | 3.94 | 1.09 | .261 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 4.8 |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lynn | 3.10 | 3.57 | 1.14 | .257 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 10.6 |
| Bailey | 2.81 | 3.00 | 1.06 | .268 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 9.0 |
Each of the Reds starters appeared in the first Reds/Cardinals series. Latos and Bailey each allowed the most runs of any game he has pitched so far this year, though 3 of Latos’ four runs were unearned. Arroyo surrendered 4 runs in 6 innings.
The Reds missed Adam Wainwright earlier this month. He has had great control so far this season, walking just 1 batting in 37.1 innings. Jamie Garcia was hittable in his first start against the Reds, though he did strike out 10 batters in 6.2 innings. Lance Lynn had arguably his best start of the season against Cincinnati.
BULLPEN
Edward Mujica has replaced Mitchell Boggs in the closer’s role, and is 4-for-4 in four straight save opportunities. Mujica saved all three games in the Cardinals sweep of the Nationals a week ago.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Division rivals square off again. This series should be a close one, as the teams are even in runs scored and runs allowed per game. The pitching matchup for each game also looks fairly even.
With all the intradivision games in the NL Central this week, it’s going to be awfully hard for any team to pull away from the pack this week without sweeping their opponent. That’s actually something that could take the sour taste of the weekend series in Washington out of my mouth; a sweep of the Cardinals.