Cincinnati @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Apr 30, 2010 ) Cincinnati 3, St. Louis 2
Homer Bailey and Kyle Lohse both had strong performances in 2009, but the pitchers would rather forget how 2010 has started for them.
Bailey, the Cincinnati Reds’ young phenom, has only one loss to his credit - as does Lohse, who is in his third season in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform. Neither pitcher has won a game yet, however, and their earned run averages haven’t exactly set the world on fire.
On Saturday at Busch Stadium, one of these pitchers will likely win their first game, but they may have to overcome a lot of fatigue to do it. Friday's opener of the three-game series didn’t end until around 1:30 a.m. after a rain delay of two-and-a-half hours. When play resumed, Cincinnati held on to its pre-delay lead for a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals, snapping St. Louis’ five-game winning streak. The Reds have now won five straight games.
Bailey hasn’t gone longer than six innings in any of his starts this season, but he has been the victim of a little hard luck.
In his last start on April 25 against the San Diego Padres, Bailey walked only one batter and struck out eight in six innings of work, but he allowed four earned runs in the process. Bailey has allowed five runs twice this season, regressing from the pitcher that won eight games last season and was 1-1 with a 3.14 ERA and 12 strikeouts in three games against St. Louis.
Lohse appears to have forgotten everything Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan taught him in 2008. After going 15-6 that year, Lohse slipped to 6-10 in 2009 and so far has been ineffective this year.
In a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on April 26, Lohse allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings of work but did not pick up the decision. Still, his ERA stands at 7.06, a little over a half-run higher than Bailey’s 6.55 mark. Pitching at home may help Lohse this time. Although he is 0-1 during day games, Lohse does have a 2.57 ERA and opponents are batting .208 against him in day contests.
Friday’s game marked the first appearance in the lineup of outfielder Jon Jay, who started so Ryan Ludwick could have a night off. Jay picked up a double in the third inning for his first major-league hit.
Ludwick will likely be back in the starting lineup on Saturday, but there is a chance Jason LaRue may appear at catcher in place of Yadier Molina. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has also indicated Matt Holliday might get a day off soon, but it may not came until Sunday, as Holliday has only one career hit against Sunday's probable starter Aaron Harang.
Reds outfielder Jay Bruce went 3-for-4 with two RBIs during Friday’s game, improving his average to .263. Second baseman Brandon Phillips had two hits for the second game in a row.
The duo of Holliday and Albert Pujols each had two hits for the Cardinals, as did Brendan Ryan. Ryan’s average isn’t the best right now (.179), but he did snap out of a 4-for-28 slump in the nine games previous to Friday’s contest.