Cardinals at Angels
The Los Angeles Angels had their winning streak come to an end in depressing fashion. They will try to begin another surge and take the rubber game when they close out a three-game interleague set against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. The Angels won seven straight and were creeping toward .500 before suffering a 12-2 loss Wednesday.
Los Angeles struggled in the pitching department for most of the first three months but surrendered two or fewer runs in five straight games before Jerome Williams lasted 1 2/3 innings. That forced the Angels to burn through both long relievers in Garrett Richards and Billy Buckner, and leaves Joe Blanton with little room for error in Thursday’s start. The Cardinals have struggled to three wins in their last 10 games, but can escape with an even record in their eight-game trip through the American League West with a win in the finale.
TV: 9:05 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Midwest (St. Louis), Fox Sports West (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (11-5, 2.22 ERA) vs. Angels RH Joe Blanton (2-10, 5.07)
Wainwright is coming off a complete-game win at Oakland in which he allowed one run on five hits. The veteran right-hander was named the NL Pitcher of the Month after going 4-2 with a 1.77 ERA and striking out 40 batters with six walks in six June starts. Wainwright has never faced Los Angeles but is 8-5 with a 2.92 ERA in 21 career interleague games (15 starts).
Blanton ended a five-start winless streak last time out by holding the Houston Astros to two runs on three hits in seven innings. The burly right-hander has posted a quality start in six of his last seven outings to drop his ERA from 6.62 to 5.07. Blanton has some experience against St. Louis from his time in the National League and owns a 3-2 record with a 4.34 ERA in eight career games (seven starts) against the Cardinals.
WALK-OFFS
1. Angels 1B Albert Pujols is 0-for-7 with three strikeouts in his first two games against his former team.
2. Cardinals LF Matt Holliday is day-to-day with a pinched nerve in his neck and has sat out the last two contests.
3. St. Louis 2B Matt Carpenter has hit in 12 straight games and has seven multi-hit games in that span.