Arizona @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 29, 2010 ) Arizona 0, St. Louis 8
The last time Barry Enright took the mound, he was starting a game for the Mobile Bay Bears.
When Enright goes to the mound today, not only will he be pitching in the major leagues, he'll be taking the spot of a pitcher who fired a no-hitter in his last start.
Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
Enright, Arizona's No. 2 pick in the 2007 draft, starts against St. Louis in the finale of a three-game series.
The Diamondbacks looked to their minor league system to find a starter so they could give Edwin Jackson, who threw 149 pitches in his no-hitter against Tampa Bay last Friday, a couple of extra days rest between starts.
Jackson will start Friday against the Dodgers, leaving this game in Enright's hands.
Enright, a 24-year-old right-hander, is 4-1 with a 2.88 ERA in Double-A this season. He will be pitching on his regular turn and will likely head back to the minors following the game. Enright was winless in April, but is 4-0 since with an ERA under 3.00 the last two months.
Jeff Supppan, the latest personal project of manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan, makes his fourth start for the Cardinals since being signed on June 14. Suppan is winless with St. Louis but has pitched much better than he did with Milwaukee, where he was 0-2 with a 7.84 ERA before being released.
Suppan has allowed six earned runs and 13 hits in 13 2/3 innings with the Cardinals. The 35-year-old right-hander ended up with no-decisions against Seattle and Oakland before getting the loss in his last start against Kansas City. He allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings.
Suppan will be making his first start against a National League team since June 4, when he faced the Cardinals while he was still with the Brewers. He lasted 1 1/3 innings, allowing three runs and three hits.
It's unrealistic to expect Suppan to regain the form he had in his first go-around with St. Louis, when he was 44-26 with a 2.95 ERA from 2004-06. Opponents are batting .370 against him and he has allowed 68 hits in 44 2/3 innings. La Russa and Duncan have turned around lost causes in the past so maybe they can succeed again.
The first two games of the series have been a nightmare for the Diamondbacks. Arizona took a two-run lead into the ninth inning Monday night, but throwing errors by closer Aaron Heilman and first baseman Adam LaRoche helped the Cardinals score three runs for a 6-5 win.
St. Louis rolled to an 8-0 victory Tuesday night behind a pair of two-run homers and five RBIs by Albert Pujols.