Cincinnati @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 3, 2010 ) Cincinnati 2, St. Louis 3
The St. Louis Cardinals look to continue their winning ways against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday as they try to narrow the gap in the NL Central.
With Friday’s 3-2 win, St. Louis (70-62) is now seven games behind Cincinnati (78-56) in the division after winning its 11th of 16 games against the Reds this season.
For its part, Cincinnati has scored just 11 runs over its last five games against the Cards.
Adam Wainwright (17-9, 2.30 ERA) takes the hill for St. Louis and will try to put an end to the first three-game losing streak of his career. Wainwright has allowed 11 runs over 19 innings during the skid, most recently taking a 4-2 loss at the Washington Nationals. He allowed four earned runs over five innings while striking out seven and walking three.
With a little run support, the 6-foot-7 righty should be able to get back in the win column before long. Wainwright has allowed more than four runs in a start only once this season - July 27 against the New York Mets. Wainwright is 3-3 lifetime against the Reds with a 4.01 ERA.
Rookie Travis Wood (4-2, 3.53 ERA) gets the call for the Reds in his first career start against the Cardinals.
The left-hander is coming off a no-decision in a 7-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Wood went five innings, allowing three runs. Even though the 23-year-old gave up a career-high 10 hits, it was a big improvement from his start before that when he gave up seven earned runs over four innings in a loss at the San Francisco Giants.
Wood isn’t imposing on the hill at just 5-foot-11 and about 165 pounds, but he has some tricky stuff. He has a great change-up and a sinking fastball that tops out in the low 90s to go along with a cutter, slider and curveball. Wood is primarily a ground ball pitcher and gets himself in trouble when he leaves the ball up.
He’ll want to watch that against a hungry Albert Pujols on Saturday. The Triple Crown contender drove in a run with a sacrifice fly on Friday but is now riding a 0-for-16 slump heading into Saturday’s game, dropping his batting average to .315.
Meanwhile, Joey Votto is making a charge for the Triple Crown as well.
Votto leads the National League with 97 RBIs, sits second with a .325 batting average and is third with 32 home runs. He was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout Friday night.