St. Louis @ Houston preview
Minute Maid Park
Last Meeting ( May 13, 2010 ) Houston 4, St. Louis 1
The slumping St. Louis Cardinals would likely relish the opportunity to break out of their current funk against a team that resides 16 games under .500. Well, not if that team is the Houston Astros.
The reeling Cardinals have dropped five of seven and are coming off a heartbreaking sweep at the hands of Colorado in which they blew late inning leads in the first two games of the series before getting shutdown by Ubaldo Jimenez in the third.
But the Cardinals will still have their hands full when they travel to open a three-game set against dissapointing Houston on Friday.
The Astros (35-51), who sit 13 1/2 games behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central, are fresh off a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh.
Besides their recent steady play, the Astros should feel confident against a Cardinals squad which they have surprisingly held the upper-hand over of late. Houston has taken four of six games against their division counterparts this year, including a sweep in the teams’ last meeting in May.
The Astros have been just as good at home against the Cardinals, notching wins in seven of nine tries at Minute Maid Park.
It could be difficult to continue that success on Friday as the Cardinals will send ace Adam Wainwright to the hill in hopes that he can stop the bleeding. The Astros missed facing the St. Louis ace last meeting, and for good measure as Wainwright is 8-1 with a 1.54 ERA in 10 starts against Houston.
Wainwright (12-5, 2.24 ERA), who ranks second in the NL in wins behind Jimenez’s 15, has been his sharp self in his previous two outings. The All-Star has allowed just one run in 15 1/3 innings with 16 strikeouts in that span.
Things don’t figure to be any easier on the opposite side as Bud Norris will get the start for Houston. Norris (2-5, 5.98) hasn’t been very good overall in his career, but has dominated the Cardinals.
The 25-year-old right-hander is 4-0 with a 0.35 ERA in four starts against them.
Norris is winless in his last four outings and hasn’t won since May 13. He will hope to get the offensive support of the hot-hitting Lance Berkman.
Berkman belted a pair of solo home runs for the Astros’ only runs in Thursday’s victory over Pittsburgh. The veteran first baseman has seven hits and eight RBIs over his past four games.
Pacing the Cardinals recently has been surprising rookie outfielder Jon Jay, who has hit safely in eight straight and has five RBIs in four previous contests.