San Francisco @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 20, 2010 ) San Francisco 6, St. Louis 3
The St. Louis Cardinals are falling fast and need a huge effort from ace Chris Carpenter on Saturday against the San Francisco Giants before it’s too late.
St. Louis' loss to the Giants on Friday marked its fifth straight and dropped the Cardinals to three games off the pace in the NL wild card race.
Meanwhile, San Francisco now sits second in the race, a game behind the Philadelphia Phillies and sends its ace, Tim Lincecum, up against Carpenter (13-4, 2.95 ERA) on Saturday.
Lincecum (11-7, 3.62 ERA) hasn’t been himself lately. He has lost three straight starts, allowing nine earned runs during the slump.
The NL West-leading San Diego Padres chased him after only 3 2/3 innings in his last outing, pounding the young right-hander for five earned runs and eight hits. He still managed to strike out six, but also walked three.
Lincecum admitted he’s struggling with his confidence following his latest loss and has talked with pitching coach Dave Righetti about fighting through the slump. But it isn’t all mental. His velocity is down around the low-90s, which makes a huge difference when he’s usually around 95 mph and his location hasn’t been up to snuff, either.
He has even tried making changes to his delivery lately, but after failing to book a single win this month, is going back to his regular mechanics.
Carpenter knows what it’s like to work through a slump, but he has been pretty good lately, despite taking a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs in his most recent outing. He yielded two home runs in that outing, but hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start since July 8.
The hurler was also fined for his part in last week’s brawl with the Cincinnati Reds and had an altercation with the team’s shortstop, Brendan Ryan, during the same series.
Carpenter is known as one of the most intense players in the league and took exception to Ryan delaying his start while he was in the dugout cage hitting in the top of the first.
With Friday's win, the Giants have now taken four straight against the Cardinals.