Reds at Cardinals
The visiting Cincinnati Reds haven't been able to cool off the offense of the St. Louis Cardinals, but they will have a chance for a series victory in Sunday's rubber match of the three-game set between the National League Central Division rivals. The Reds snapped a four-game losing streak by erasing a four-run deficit in Saturday's 9-8 victory.
While the Cardinals have been mashing everything in sight, Cincinnati put on a slugfest of its own with a franchise record-tying nine doubles Saturday. Reds shortstop Zack Cozart accounted for two of those doubles among three hits and is 5-for-8 in the series after missing the previous two games with a quadriceps injury. St. Louis lost for only the second time in the past eight games - a span in which it has rolled up 74 runs, including Friday's six-homer barrage. Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha, who won all four decisions against Cincinnati in 2015, opposes rookie Jon Moscot in the series finale.
TV: 2:15 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cincinnati), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Reds RH Jon Moscot (2015: 1-1, 4.63 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (1-0, 3.48)
An intercostal strain in spring training and a subsequent blister on his right thumb has delayed the season debut of Moscot, who was promoted to the majors in June 2015 before dislocating his left shoulder in his third career start. Moscot earned his first victory in his second career start, tossing six innings of two-run ball against Philadelphia before the shoulder injury ended his season. He allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings in a rehab start Monday.
After he was knocked around for five runs (four earned) on 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings of his season debut, which he escaped with a no-decision, Wacha bounced back with a stellar performance in his last turn. The former first-round draft pick surrendered only four hits while striking out seven over six scoreless innings to beat Milwaukee. Wacha has to be wary of Cozart (8-for-17), but he has been overpowering against Jay Bruce (0-for-21) and Billy Hamilton (1-for-20).
WALK-OFFS
1. Cardinals OF Stephen Piscotty homered and had four RBIs Saturday, giving him multiple hits in four of his last six games.
2. Bruce belted his 211th homer home run to move past Ken Griffey Jr. for seventh place on Cincinnati's career list.
3. Rookie Cardinals SS Aledmys Diaz is 4-for-10 in the series, hiking his batting average to .406.