St. Louis @ Cincinnati preview
Great American Ball Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 9, 2010 ) St. Louis 7, Cincinnati 3
The first round went to the St. Louis Cardinals, but the Cincinnati Reds still own a slim lead atop the NL Central standings.
Cincinnati will try to protect its advantage on Tuesday when the teams meet in the second contest of an important three-game set.
The Cardinals and Reds have made the NL Central a two-team race, and they have been jockeying back and forth for first place for the better part of three months. Cincinnati entered this series with a two-game lead over St. Louis, only to see it cut in half on Monday as the Cardinals posted a 7-3 triumph.
St. Louis scored all seven of its runs in the fourth inning and Chris Carpenter was pretty much in control throughout, posting his 13th victory of the season and running his win streak against Cincinnati to nine starts.
The Reds have not been in first place this late in a season since 1999. They weren't even in the Great American Ballpark back then, rather they played their home games at Cinergy Field.
The Cardinals lead the season series, 8-5, and look to pull even in the standings with rookie Jaime Garcia (9-5, 2.53 ERA) on the mound.
Garcia is 1-1 in his last five starts and is coming off a rough outing. He was lit up for eight runs and 10 hits in five innings of an 18-4 loss to the Houston Astros last Tuesday.
Garcia already has one win at Great American Ballpark this season, as he went 6 1/3 innings and allowed two runs and five hits as St. Louis recorded a 4-3 victory on May 14.
The Reds will try and regain their two-game advantage with Johnny Cueto on the hill.
Cueto (11-2, 3.24 ERA) is 6-1 in his last 10 starts and is 3-2 with a 6.39 ERA in eight career outings against the Cardinals.
The hurler allowed a run and three hits in six innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, which is much better than his last performance against St. Louis.
The Cardinals roughed up Cueto on June 1 to the tune of eight runs and 10 hits in five innings. Cueto did not record a strikeout and gave up two home runs, but was taken off the hook as the Reds rallied for a 9-8 victory.