St. Louis @ Washington preview
Nationals Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 28, 2010 ) St. Louis 5, Washington 14
The St. Louis Cardinals are having their troubles on their longest road trip of the season. Adam Wainwright has struggled away from home all year long.
Wainwright and the Cardinals attempt to straighten things out today when they try to earn a split of their four-game series with the Washington Nationals.
St. Louis, which has lost nine of its last 13 games overall, fell to 2-4 on its season-high 10-game road trip with Saturday's embarrassing 14-5 loss. Jon Jay helped stake the Cardinals to an early 3-0 lead with a two-run homer in the first inning, but Kyle Lohse was unable to hold it, allowing eight runs and 11 hits in just five innings.
The Cardinals, who dropped two of three in Pittsburgh, conclude the trip with a three-game series against another inferior team in Houston.
Wainwright has a chance to become the first 18-game winner in the National League. The majority of his victories have come at home, however, as the right-hander is just 6-7 with a 2.94 ERA in 14 road starts this year.
In those seven losses, Wainwright - who leads the NL with a 2.18 ERA - has averaged 5.23 earned runs allowed.
The right-hander has lost each of his last two starts, his first losing streak of the campaign. On Tuesday, he yielded four runs and seven hits over seven innings in a 4-3 loss at Pittsburgh.
Wainwright, who will celebrate his 29th birthday on Monday, is 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA in seven career outings - including two relief appearances - against Washington. Nyjer Morgan is 7-for-12 (.583) and slugger Adam Dunn is hitting .438 (7-for-16) with a homer and five RBIs vs. Wainwright.
Dunn ended a 14-game homer drought Saturday, belting a three-run shot in the fifth inning to snap a 5-5 tie. It was his first blast since Aug. 11 against Florida.
Dunn added a two-run double, Roger Bernadina a two-run homer and Michael Morse went 4-for-4 with an RBI for the Nationals, who produced their largest scoring output since relocating from Montreal to Washington after the 2004 season.
The Nationals send left-hander John Lannan to the mound in hope of clinching the series win.
Lannan had his personal three-game winning streak halted Tuesday, when he surrendered five runs - four earned - and seven hits in five innings of a 5-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
The 25-year-old is 0-2 with a 2.70 ERA in four career starts against St. Louis. He did not figure in the decision in a 3-2 loss to Washington on May 18, when he gave up two runs and five hits in six innings.
Lannan has had his difficulties with Pedro Feliz, who has collected nine hits - one home run - in 20 at-bats (.450) and driven in five runs.
In nine starts at home this year, Lannan is 1-3 with a 5.48 ERA.