Cardinals at Padres
The St. Louis Cardinals lost the opener of a 10-game road trip and seek
to rebound when they visit the San Diego Padres on Saturday. The 9-3
loss Friday trimmed St. Louis' lead to 4 1/2 games over second-place
Pittsburgh in the National League Central.
San Diego has won four consecutive games and eight of its last 10 to move within two games of .500. Right fielder Matt Kemp went 2-for-5 with a two-run blast in the opener and has four homers and 13 RBIs during a 13-game hitting streak while batting .342 in August. Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter is hitless in 11 at-bats over the past three games and is batting only .264 this season, but has a career-best 18 homers. St. Louis right fielder Jason Hayward returned from a hamstring injury and went hitless in three at-bats in his first start since Aug. 16.
TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Carlos Martinez (12-5, 2.78 ERA) vs. Padres RH Ian Kennedy (7-11, 4.20)
Martinez struggled when losing to Miami in his last outing as he gave up five runs (four earned) and seven hits over five innings. He has a 6.30 ERA in four career appearances against the Padres but fared well in his lone start as he allowed one run and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings while taking a no-decision July 4. Martinez has walked one or fewer batters in four of his last five starts.
Kennedy has split his last two starts despite giving up only two earned runs and six hits in 11 2/3 innings. He has served up at least one homer in each of his last 12 outings and 26 overall for the campaign - two shy of his career-worst total for Arizona in 2012. Kennedy is 2-5 with an 8.31 ERA in seven career starts against St. Louis, including a loss July 5 in which he allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Padres LF Justin Upton is homerless over his last nine games and has gone deep just twice in August.
2. St. Louis SS Jhonny Peralta, who has only one homer and three RBIs in August, went 3-for-4 in the opener.
3. San Diego 2B Jedd Gyorko, who is 2-for-14 over his last four games, is 4-for-5 against Martinez.