Cardinals at Reds
Brandon Moss wasn’t able to make much of an impact in his first three games with his new team, but the St. Louis Cardinals were more than happy to see him deliver when he did. After delivering a pinch-hit, walk-off single in a series-clinching win over the weekend, Moss looks to build upon his first clutch hit with his new team on Tuesday when the Cardinals visit the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a three-game set.
Acquired from Cleveland at the non-waiver trade deadline on Friday to
share time at first base with Mark Reynolds, Moss managed only one
single in his first 10 at-bats for St. Louis prior to stepping up in
Sunday’s 3-2 victory versus Colorado. “We put him in a big spot. He’s
the kind of player we think is going to come up big for us. He’s had
some real nice at-bats and we have a lot of faith he’s going to drive
the ball deep, but we’ll take a base hit,” manager Mike Matheny told
reporters. Moss will likely get a start on Tuesday against Cincinnati,
which blanked the Cardinals twice last week while taking two of three in
St. Louis. The Reds were on the wrong end of a shutout on Sunday,
however, as Pittsburgh handed Cincinnati a 3-0 setback in a game in
which the benches cleared after stars Andrew McCutchen and Brandon
Phillips were hit by pitches late.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Ohio (Cincinnati)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH John Lackey (9-6, 2.78 ERA) vs. Reds RH Anthony DeSclafani (6-7, 3.75)
Lackey
came out on the short end of a pitchers’ duel in a 1-0 loss to
Cincinnati on Wednesday, watching his three-game winning streak come to
an end after surrendering a solo shot to Jay Bruce among the two hits he
allowed in eight frames. The one-time All-Star has recorded nine
consecutive quality starts, going 5-2 over that stretch while logging at
least seven innings in eight of those outings. Lackey, who has
struggled against Marlon Byrd in his career (10-for-32, two homers and
RBIs), is 2-1 with a 2.78 ERA in six starts versus the Reds.
DeSclafani
outdueled Lackey on Wednesday, turning in one of the finest
performances of his two-year big-league career by holding the Cardinals
to three singles and three walks across seven scoreless innings. The
25-year-old Florida product, who has surrendered six runs in each of his
last two turns in Cincinnati, has struggled much more at home (2-5,
5.69 ERA) than he has on the road (4-2, 2.41). DeSclafani’s only other
appearance against St. Louis came last August, when he tossed a
scoreless inning in relief.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cincinnati 1B
Joey Votto leads the majors in batting average (.491), walks (20) and
on-base percentage (.635) since the All-Star break.
2. After
hitting seven homers in 191 at-bats before the break, St. Louis LF
Randal Grichuk has clubbed five in 52 at-bats in the second half.
3.
Bruce’s next home run will give him 200 for his career, allowing him to
become the ninth player in team history to reach that milestone and
leaving him three shy of eighth-place Eric Davis.