Cardinals look to snap out of skid in makeup at Nationals
Cardinals look to snap out of skid in makeup at Washington Nationals
A rare blown save by Ryan Franklin in Houston last night has the Cardinals mired in a three-game losing skid entering this makeup game at the Nationals tonight.
After being swept in Houston and seeing their lead in the NL Central whittled to a single game, the Cardinals’ road trip will continue this weekend this weekend in Philadelphia and only get tougher against a Phils club that has been on a tear.
But first there’s the matter of a makeup game in Washington against the Nationals tonight. While the Phillies series will be a big one for St. Louis, they can’t afford to look past a Nats team that enters this contest with some renewed hope after two straight wins over the Mets.
Tonight’s game is a makeup from a rainout on May 3 and was to have been a pitching matchup between righthanders Adam Wainwright (13-7, 3.02) of the Cardinals and Nationals rookie Jordan Zimmermann (5-11, 4.63). But Zimmermann was placed on the DL yesterday with elbow pain, and Washington has called up Collin Balester from their Triple-A club in Syracuse to take his place.
This will be Wainwright’s first start this year vs. the Nats. He’s made three previous career starts vs. Washington, one in DC, with the Cards 1-2 in those games despite Wainwright’s excellent 2.86 ERA over 22 frames.
There are a few hitters in this Nationals lineup that have given Wainwright fits over the course of their careers. Adam Dunn (4-for-12, HR, 1.113 OPS), Ryan Zimmerman (5-12, 3 doubles, 1.083 OPS), Ronnie Belliard (4-10, HR, 1.100 OPS), Nyjer Morgan (5-9, 1.222 OPS) and Nick Johnson (3-4, HR) have all done well against the St. Louis righthander, though their success has come over rather limited action.
Balester had been pitching well for the Chiefs of late and was 7-9, 4.35 overall this year for the minor league club. He worked 15 starts for Washington last season, with the Nats winning five of them while he served up a dozen homers in 80 innings with a 5.51 ERA.
Weather could be a factor in DC today where it’s going to be very muggy with rain chances increasing to 50% for the evening. Temps should be in the mid-70s at the start of the game, with East winds E 5-10 (from left field in towards 3B).
While the two teams each lost a day off to play this one, it means that some umpire crew did as well. It makes sense that the same bunch that has been in DC this week for the Nats-Mets series might layover to work this one. Only four new series open up tonight, and three of them would require the crew from the recent series to travel practically cross-country. If the crew does remain the same, it means Brian Knight would be up for the dish job.
Knight has strongly favored the home team this year, calling wins for them in 15 of his 20 plate appearances. He’s 4-0 on the home dog with an 8-11-1 record on the O/U.
If it’s not the same crew from the Mets series, there’s a good chance the crew will stay and work the Nats-Pads series this weekend, something else to keep in mind.
Though the line is higher chalk than I generally like to play, I'm going with the Cardinals tonight with a small play, expecting them to bounce back from being swept by the Astros and gain at least a little momentum as they head into the weekend at Philly.
A rare blown save by Ryan Franklin in Houston last night has the Cardinals mired in a three-game losing skid entering this makeup game at the Nationals tonight.
After being swept in Houston and seeing their lead in the NL Central whittled to a single game, the Cardinals’ road trip will continue this weekend this weekend in Philadelphia and only get tougher against a Phils club that has been on a tear.
But first there’s the matter of a makeup game in Washington against the Nationals tonight. While the Phillies series will be a big one for St. Louis, they can’t afford to look past a Nats team that enters this contest with some renewed hope after two straight wins over the Mets.
Tonight’s game is a makeup from a rainout on May 3 and was to have been a pitching matchup between righthanders Adam Wainwright (13-7, 3.02) of the Cardinals and Nationals rookie Jordan Zimmermann (5-11, 4.63). But Zimmermann was placed on the DL yesterday with elbow pain, and Washington has called up Collin Balester from their Triple-A club in Syracuse to take his place.
This will be Wainwright’s first start this year vs. the Nats. He’s made three previous career starts vs. Washington, one in DC, with the Cards 1-2 in those games despite Wainwright’s excellent 2.86 ERA over 22 frames.
There are a few hitters in this Nationals lineup that have given Wainwright fits over the course of their careers. Adam Dunn (4-for-12, HR, 1.113 OPS), Ryan Zimmerman (5-12, 3 doubles, 1.083 OPS), Ronnie Belliard (4-10, HR, 1.100 OPS), Nyjer Morgan (5-9, 1.222 OPS) and Nick Johnson (3-4, HR) have all done well against the St. Louis righthander, though their success has come over rather limited action.
Balester had been pitching well for the Chiefs of late and was 7-9, 4.35 overall this year for the minor league club. He worked 15 starts for Washington last season, with the Nats winning five of them while he served up a dozen homers in 80 innings with a 5.51 ERA.
Weather could be a factor in DC today where it’s going to be very muggy with rain chances increasing to 50% for the evening. Temps should be in the mid-70s at the start of the game, with East winds E 5-10 (from left field in towards 3B).
While the two teams each lost a day off to play this one, it means that some umpire crew did as well. It makes sense that the same bunch that has been in DC this week for the Nats-Mets series might layover to work this one. Only four new series open up tonight, and three of them would require the crew from the recent series to travel practically cross-country. If the crew does remain the same, it means Brian Knight would be up for the dish job.
Knight has strongly favored the home team this year, calling wins for them in 15 of his 20 plate appearances. He’s 4-0 on the home dog with an 8-11-1 record on the O/U.
If it’s not the same crew from the Mets series, there’s a good chance the crew will stay and work the Nats-Pads series this weekend, something else to keep in mind.
Though the line is higher chalk than I generally like to play, I'm going with the Cardinals tonight with a small play, expecting them to bounce back from being swept by the Astros and gain at least a little momentum as they head into the weekend at Philly.
