The St. Louis Cardinals (79-64) will travel to Cincinnati to face the Reds (67-76) for the final time in 2014. The Reds are 3-9 against the Cardinals this season, and are 33-46 against the Cardinals since 2010.

The Cardinals have won 8 of their last 9, and have taken full control of the NL Central. The Cardinals lead is now up to 4.5 games, with only 19 games to play. Meanwhile, the Reds are now just 16-32 in the second half, and their .333 win percentage in the second half is their worst since 1945. The Reds are 1-7-1 in their last nine series.

Pitching Matchups

The interesting name in here is Michael Wacha. He made his return to the Cardinals last week, pitching just three innings, as he was on an limited pitch count. The Cueto-Lynn matchup on Thursday afternoon features two of the better pitchers in the NL this season.

Cardinals Projected Lineup

The Cardinals lineup #1 through #6 has been strong, with every player having an above average wRC+. The big story this season has been Jhonny Peralta. He has been exceptional for the Cardinals, posting a 127 wRC+ and 5.3 WAR.

Jon Jay has been very good of late. Jay is hitting .409/.491/.517 with a 188 wRC+ over the last 30 days. Matt Adams does come in struggling though. Adams has only hit .200/.268/.310 with a 58 wRC+ over the last 30 days.

*Matt Holliday is currently listed as day to day with back tightness, but he is expected to be in the lineup Monday night.