Los Angeles @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 16, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 4, St. Louis 8
It seems that the All-Star break did nothing but rejuvenate the offense of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Los Angeles Dodgers can certainly attest to that.
St. Louis banged out 14 hits in an 8-4 win over their counterparts on Friday, marking the second straight game that a Dodgers’ starter has been roughed up by the surging offense.
A day after Clayton Kershaw was beat around, Chad Billingsley was charged with seven runs on 10 hits in four innings of Friday’s defeat. Yadier Molina provided the big blow with a two-run homer among four RBIs and Randy Winn drove in a pair of runs.
As the offense appears to be heating up, the Cardinals certainly hope it continues to translate into victories as they have now won three in a row after skidding heading into the break with losses in six of nine contests.
More importantly, the win allowed St. Louis to remain a half-game behind the victorious Cincinnati Reds in the race for first place in the National League Central.
The Dodgers, who have captured the West the past two seasons, have aspirations of a first-place finish as well, but haven’t helped themselves much in losing three of four overall.
They will try to crack the win column when the two squads battle on Saturday at Busch Stadium, where the Dodgers are just 3-13 since the park opened five years ago.
All-Star Adam Wainwright (13-5, 2.11 ERA) seems like a safe bet to keep the Dodgers down as he draws the start for the Cardinals. Wainwright will be eying his fourth straight win and fifth in six outings.
The 28-year-old right-hander has been nearly flawless in his past three appearances. He has allowed just one run in 23 1/3 innings, striking out 20 against six walks in that span.
Wainwright has been hard to touch when pitching at home this season, posting a record of 9-0 with a 1.43 ERA and a .189 batting-against average.
But he’ll have to deal with James Loney (7-for 17), Russell Martin (8-for-16) and Rafael Furcal (7-for-19), who have each enjoyed success against the righty.
Los Angeles will turn to right-hander Hiroki Kuroda (7-7, 3.87 ERA) in hopes of stopping its skid.
Kuroda hasn’t been overly sharp as of late, surrendering four or more runs in his previous three outings. He, however, was good against the Cardinals in a start earlier this season, tossing four-hit ball through seven innings of a no-decision.
Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez was removed from Friday’s game after the first inning with tightness in his right calf and is listed as day-to-day. It was his second game back after coming off the disabled list with an injured right hamstring.