St. Louis @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 8, 2016 ) St. Louis 12, Cincinnati 7

Adam Wainwright has turned his season around after a disastrous start but will face a nemesis when the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night in the rubber match of a three-game series. Wainwright has more losses (10) against the Reds than any other team, including a seven-run battering by Cincinnati in mid-April.

The Reds slammed three home runs, including a walk-off blast by Joey Votto, to squeeze out a 7-6 win in the series opener before St. Louis went deep four times in Wednesday's 12-7 romp. Brandon Moss belted a pair of homers, Jhonny Peralta added a three-run blast and Matt Adams clubbed a three-run shot to run his hitting streak to eight games for St. Louis, which is 17-4 in its last 21 series against the Reds. Cincinnati's offense has scored 54 runs during a 5-2 stretch and has amassed 27 hits in the first two games of the series. Reds right fielder Jay Bruce has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, collecting 12 RBIs in that stretch.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Ohio (Cincinnati)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (5-4, 5.40 ERA) vs. Reds LH Brandon Finnegan (2-4, 3.89)

Despite one of his better performances, Wainwright's seven-start unbeaten streak ended when he allowed two runs and struck out a season-high six batters over seven innings in a 5-1 loss to San Francisco on Friday. He survived a three-homer outburst to earn the victory in a 9-4 win at Washington and has pitched at least six innings in six of his last seven turns. Billy Hamilton is 0-for-7 with seven strikeouts versus Wainwright, who is 8-10 with a 4.51 ERA against Cincinnati.

Finnegan finally ended an eight-start winless drought last time out against Washington, permitting one run and five hits over 6 1/3 innings for his first victory since April 16 in St. Louis. Control problems continue to plague the 23-year-old Texan, who has walked at least three batters in eight of his 12 turns. Finnegan allowed four runs (zero earned) to the Cardinals in April to even his record against them to 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA in four appearances (two starts).

WALK-OFFS

1. Peralta is 4-for-9 with a homer, two doubles and five RBIs in his first two games of the season.

2. Cincinnati's pitchers have surrendered 101 homers, by far the highest total in the majors.

3. Adams, who has reached safely in 19 straight games overall, has seven home runs and 16 RBIs in 24 games at Great American Ball Park.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 6, Reds 4