Washington @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Mar 31, 2010 ) Washington 9, St. Louis 6
The St. Louis Cardinals hope a visit from the Washington Nationals will help cure a recent losing spell.
The Cardinals have dropped five of their last six contests -- and nine of 12 -- and in the process have fallen out of first place in the National League Central. The streak included losing two of three against the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend as St. Louis dropped a half game behind their divisional counterparts.
Heading to town for a brief two-game series that begins Monday are the Nationals, who have lost three in a row but remain just four games out of first place in the NL East a year after finishing with the worst record in the majors.
Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols has cooled off as his team has struggled, batting .250 with five RBIs over his previous 13 games. On the bright side, the reigning NL MVP has fared well of late against the Nationals, hitting .407 with five homers in the past 16 meetings.
St. Louis turns to Kyle Lohse in the opener, who has yet to get on track. Lohse is winless in seven starts and owns a 5.68 ERA.
The right-hander is coming off consecutive losses, including a drubbing at the hands of the Houston Astros in which he was tagged for nine runs -- four earned -- on 10 hits in five innings.
Lohse is 2-1 with a 5.19 ERA in eight career appearances against Washington.
The Cardinals’ pitching staff still remains one of the best in the NL despite the team’s recent struggles. Their ERA (2.79) ranks second, their batting--average against (.238) is third and they are first in quality starts (30).
Taking the ball for the Nationals will be Craig Stammen, who currently owns a 1-1 record with a 5.84 ERA in seven starts. He hasn’t won in four consecutive outings despite not pitching poorly.
Stammen closed out 2009 with a loss to the Cardinals in his lone career appearance against them, a 9-4 defeat.
The Nationals’ bullpen should receive boost as the club promoted heralded prospect Drew Storen from Triple-A on Sunday. Storen was the No. 10 pick in last year’s draft and the organization’s closer of the future. He is expected to receive work in non-pressure situations to begin with.
Washington slugger Adam Dunn missed Sunday’s game with flu-like symptoms and is questionable for Monday’s opener. Dunn currently leads the team with nine home runs and 21 runs scored.