Diamondbacks at Cardinals
Matt Holliday tied a franchise record and the St. Louis Cardinals continued to win at home, but the National League Central leaders did not leave their last game in a celebratory mood. After losing cleanup hitter Matt Adams to a right quadriceps injury on Tuesday, the Cardinals hope to move forward without him one day later when they look to complete a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Holliday went 2-for-4 and has reached base in all 42 of his games
this year – tying Albert Pujols’ mark in 2008 to begin a season – and
St. Louis improved to 17-5 at home, but likely lost its first baseman
indefinitely as he was hurt running the bases in the 6-4 victory.
Manager Mike Matheny told reporters after the game there was a "high
level" of concern in regards to Adams, hinting that a lengthy stint on
the disabled list could be in the horizon. Former Diamondback Mark
Reynolds will likely fill in for Adams while he is away and attempt to
extend Arizona’s recent woes in St. Louis after it entered this series
with wins in six of the previous seven contests. The Diamondbacks have
dropped six straight and eight of its last nine at Busch Stadium.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Arizona, FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks RH Josh Collmenter (3-5, 5.19 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (3-4, 3.46)
Collmenter
bounced back from a rough three-outing stretch in which he posted an
11.30 ERA by allowing two runs in five frames during a no-decision on
Friday versus the Chicago Cubs. The 29-year-old Michigan native has
befuddled the Cardinals in four career appearances (2-1, 0.96 ERA),
picking up his only loss in his first career turn against them last
season despite yielding one run and three hits over eight innings.
Collmenter has held current St. Louis hitters to a .179 batting average
and enjoyed the most success against Jason Heyward (2-for-14).
Lynn
battled back cramps and was on the wrong end of a stellar hitting
effort from Kendrys Morales (two home runs, five RBIs) in Friday’s 5-0
loss at Kansas City. The Ole Miss alum, who tied a season high by
allowing 10 hits and matched a season low with four strikeouts over six
frames, has been much better at home (2-1, 2.84 ERA) than on the road
(1-3, 3.99). Lynn has fared well against the Diamondbacks across seven
career appearances (five starts), going 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA.
WALK-OFFS
1. Wednesday will mark the end of a stretch in which St. Louis has played 36 games in 37 days.
2. Reynolds is 1-for-19 with two walks all-time against the team that drafted him in the 16th round in 2004.
3.
Arizona LHP Vidal Nuno, who was recalled from Triple-A Reno earlier in
the day to fill the void left behind by injured RHP Enrique Burgos,
struck out five of the first six batters he faced Tuesday in his second
relief outing of the year.