New York @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 4, 2012 ) NY Mets 1, St. Louis 5
The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten the early jump on the New York Mets in the first two contests of their three-game series. St. Louis will likely have a harder time in repeating the feat on Wednesday when they face R.A. Dickey, who will vie for his major league-leading 18th victory when he takes the mound in the matinee at Busch Stadium. The veteran knuckleballer is tied with Tampa Bay's David Price, Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto and Washington's Gio Gonzalez as he attempts to strengthen his resume in his pursuit for the Cy Young Award.
Yadier Molina collected his 1,000th career hit and Skip Schumaker, David Freese and Daniel Descalso had RBI singles as St. Louis cruised to a 5-1 victory on Tuesday. The Cardinals' only concern came in the seventh inning when Matt Holliday exited the contest with tightness in his lower back. With an afternoon tilt on tap, Holliday is likely to be a spectator for St. Louis, which moved to within two games of Atlanta for the top wild-card spot.
TV: 1:45 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), FSMW (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH R.A. Dickey (17-4, 2.63 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (13-11, 3.90)
Dickey continued his brilliant stretch after scattering five hits in a complete-game shutout of Miami on Friday. The veteran knuckleballer allowed one run in three of his previous four outings. Dickey improved to 2-1 in his career versus the Cardinals after tossing a complete-game 5-0 gem on June 2.
Wainwright saw his six-game winning streak come to an end after yielding six runs on nine hits in 2 2/3 innings against Washington on Friday. The 31-year-old struggled with his control after permitting three walks for the second time in five outings. Wainwright fell to 1-2 in his career versus the Mets after allowing seven runs in 6 1/3 innings in an 8-0 loss on June 1.
WALK-OFFS
1. Freese is starting to heat up in September, having gone 6-for-15 with a homer, two doubles and four runs scored. Freese, however, is 0-for-6 in his career versus Dickey.
2. Mets RHP Jeurys Familia made his major-league debut in the eighth inning and struck out Lance Berkman. He then induced a double-play ball to exit the frame on nine pitches.
3. Cardinals top prospect Shelby Miller will likely make his coming out of the bullpen. Miller, who was the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year in both 2010 and 2011, was recalled from Triple-A Memphis prior to Tuesday's game.