Cincinnati @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 11, 2010 ) St. Louis 6, Cincinnati 1
If the St. Louis Cardinals are going to get back in National League Central race, they’re going to want to come out with a bang against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.
The Cardinals enter this weekend’s three-game set trailing the Reds by eight games after beginning August with a half-game lead in the division. St. Louis lost 13 of its last 17 games last month while Cincinnati posted the best record in the bigs in August, going 19-8.
The Reds (78-55) have just about everything going for them right now. Their offense, led by Joey Votto, has been explosive, scoring at least five runs in seven of their last eight games.
Votto, batting .325 with 32 home runs and 97 RBIs, is in a tight race with St. Louis’ Albert Pujols (.313 BA, 35 HR, 95 RBI) for the Triple Crown.
Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce, who was 8-for-15 with five home runs in his last four games, was a late scratch from Tuesday’s lineup with pain in his side and is expected to miss at least a few games.
Tonight’s game pits Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo (14-8, 3.82 ERA) against rookie Jaime Garcia (12-6, 2.33 ERA).
Arroyo has gone at least seven innings in each of his last three starts, winning two of those. He took a 3-2 loss against the Chicago Cubs in his last outing, giving up three earned runs and two homers while striking out five and walking two.
Arroyo, who has served up five homers in his last four starts, hasn’t had much success against the Cardinals over the years. He is 2-6 with a 6.54 ERA over 12 starts in St. Louis. The right-hander was peppered for seven runs over 4 1/3 innings in a 12-4 loss to the Cardinals back on May 31.
St. Louis (69-62) has been looking ahead to this series for a while, reworking its starting rotation so that the club’s top three starters will make their way to the mound this weekend.
Garcia is a strong contender for the NL Rookie of the Year award. He hasn’t allowed a single run over his last three while striking out 19 batters over that span. He threw a complete-game three-hitter against the San Francisco Giants two starts ago and followed that up with 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a 4-2 win at Washington.
St. Louis leads the season series, taking 10 of its 15 matchups with Cincinnati this year.