Cincinnati @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 5, 2011 ) Cincinnati 1, St. Louis 8
THE STORY: Riding a power surge, St. Louis goes for the sweep of bitter rival Cincinnati on Wednesday at Busch Stadium. In Tuesday's 8-1 win, Lance Berkman grabbed the NL lead with his 23rd homer, a 452-foot blast, and Matt Holliday geared up for next week's Home Run Derby by smacking two homers. The first-place Cards didn’t need the services of first baseman Albert Pujols, who was activated a month early from the DL in a remarkable recovery from a broken wrist. But he's expected to be in the lineup Wednesday.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FS-M, FS-O
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Jake Westbrook (7-4, 4.92 ERA) vs. Reds RH Bronson Arroyo (7-7, 5.49 ERA)
Westbrook tossed seven scoreless innings in his last start against Tampa Bay, but before that he had allowed 12 earned runs over 16 1/3 innings. Batters are hitting .295 against him. Arroyo has given up a league-leading 24 homers, including seven in his last two starts. In 26 career starts against the Cards, Arroyo is 7-11 with a 4.57 ERA. He did beat St. Louis on May 13, allowing three runs in six innings of a 6-5 win.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS (47-40): St. Louis not only evened the season series 4-4 with Cincinnati on Tuesday, but the Cards also overtook the Reds took for the NL lead in runs scored, 407 to 406. Manager Tony La Russa said he wanted to give Pujols one full-scale workout before using him Wednesday. Lifetime against Arroyo, Pujols is 18-for-63 (.286) with three homers, 12 RBIs and 13 walks.
ABOUT THE REDS (43-44): Cincinnati has mustered a single run in two games in St. Louis, and right fielder Jay Bruce is one reason why. He’s 0-for-8 in the series, part of a 1-for-22 skid. The Reds moved Drew Stubbs back to the leadoff spot Tuesday, but that didn’t work as he went 0-for-4 with a walk. He’s now in a 9-for-57 slump with 23 strikeouts in his last 16 games.
FINAL PITCH: The Cardinals haven’t lost a home series to Cincinnati since 2006, going 12-0-1 in that span…Five of Berkman’s last six hits have been homers…The Reds, who swept St. Louis at home in May, host the Cards in a three-game series immediately following the All-Star Break.