St. Louis @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 4, 2015 ) St. Louis 2, Cincinnati 3

Carlos Martinez has blossomed into one of the top young pitchers in the game and will go for his 12th win when the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday in the second of a three-game series. The Cardinals have dominated their National League Central Division rival in recent years but have dropped three straight to the Reds over an eight-day span.

St. Louis has scored only two runs during the three-game skid versus Cincinnati - both coming via a two-run homer by Matt Carpenter in Tuesday's 3-2 defeat. Carpenter has been on a tear over the past five games, going 9-for-21 with four homers and seven RBIs. Reds right fielder Jay Bruce has hit safely in six straight games and nine of 10, and his run-scoring double Tuesday gave him 12 RBIs over the last eight contests. Marlon Byrd also delivered an RBI double in the series opener to improve to 8-for-20 with a pair of homers and five RBIs in his past five games.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Ohio (Cincinnati)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Carlos Martinez (11-4, 2.61 ERA) vs. Reds LH David Holmberg (1-0, 3.00)

Martinez is coming off his worst outing in nearly three months, lasting only five innings while yielding five runs and a season-high 10 hits in a no-decision against the Cubs. That ended a string of 11 consecutive quality starts for Martinez, who had allowed a total of two runs in his previous four starts. Martinez faced the Reds six days apart in April, posting a 1-0 mark while giving up three runs and seven hits in 12 innings.

Holmberg was victorious in his season debut versus Pittsburgh on Thursday, surrendering two runs on five hits over six innings to earn his third career victory. The 24-year-old Houston native made four starts in September last year, going 2-1 while allowing a total of five runs. Holmberg's lone setback during that span was in St. Louis, when he gave up a pair of solo home runs in a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals.

WALK-OFFS

1. Reds LHP Aroldis Chapman has converted 56 straight save chances at home and notched 23 consecutive scoreless appearances versus the Cardinals.

2. Cardinals CF Randal Grichuk is riding a seven-game hitting streak.

3. The Reds activated LHP Manny Parra off the 15-day disabled list and optioned OF Kyle Waldrop to Triple-A Louisville.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 6, Reds 3