Oakland @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 17, 2007 ) St. Louis 10, Oakland 6
Judging by the standings, all seems right with the world for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cardinals, who begin a three-game series tonight with the Oakland Athletics, are six games over .500 and trail Cincinnati by a half-game in the National League Central. St. Louis is six games ahead of third-place Chicago so it looks like this will be a two-team race in the division.
However, a closer look at the numbers shows all is not perfect. In fact, there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about which direction the Cardinals are headed.
St. Louis is 18-22 since May 4 and has lost seven of 10. The Cardinals are fortunate that the Reds have also been struggling and needed a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday to take sole possession of first place.
The fact the NL Central is the worst division in the majors means St. Louis should be at or near the top no matter how bad the struggles get.
Outfielder Matt Holliday, who signed a seven-year, $120 contract million in the offseason, has been the target of boos from the Busch Stadium fans, something that's a rare occurrence in St. Louis. The hometown fans haven't been pleased with Holliday's numbers, which include a .284 average, six homers and 25 RBIs.
A game started by Chris Carpenter usually means good things for the Cardinals, but even that hasn't been the case of late. He's pitched well in his last two starts - allowing three runs and striking out 13 in 13 innings - but a lack of offense has resulted in two no-decisions for Carpenter and two losses for St. Louis.
Carpenter pitched seven shutout innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Cardinals bullpen gave up a run in the eighth for a 1-0 loss. He allowed three runs in six innings against Arizona, but was out of the game when the Diamondbacks won in walk-off fashion in the ninth.
Still, there's no doubt Carpenter is the Cardinals' ace and one of the top starting pitchers in the game. He has pitched at least seven innings nine times in 14 starts, has given up 81 hits in 94 2-3 innings and has held batters to a .230 average.
Vin Mazzaro makes his fourth start of the season in place of injured left-hander Brett Anderson. Mazzaro, a right-hander, got the loss on Sunday against San Francisco. He gave up four runs and six hits in six innings.
The A's, who are coming off a 3-2 loss at Wrigley Field, have lost five of six. Oakland is two games under .500, matching its worst record of the season.