Cardinals at Reds
The St. Louis Cardinals are the latest team to take advantage of the struggling Cincinnati Reds and they aim for a road sweep of their National League Central division rivals when the teams complete a four-game set Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals have outscored the Reds by a 24-8 margin through the first three contests, including Saturday's 6-1 triumph behind seven strong innings from Miles Mikolas.
Greg Garcia slugged a pair of homers and doubled while Tommy Pham went 3-for-4 with a walk for St. Louis, which moved above .500 (8-7) for the first time this season. "We throw accolades on guys all the time and one of the best ones you can have is how great of a teammate you are and Greg wears that really well," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Garcia, who had just 14 at-bats prior to Saturday. "One of those guys the whole clubhouse kind of lifts him up when he gets those opportunities and shines like he did today." The defeat gave Cincinnati (2-12) its worse start since 1931, when the team lost 17 of its first 19. Scooter Gennett has been one of the few bright spots and he had three hits Saturday to raise his average to .328.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Ohio (Cincinnati)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Carlos Martinez (1-1, 2.41 ERA) vs. Reds RH Homer Bailey (0-2, 3.24)
Martinez has 19 strikeouts and just 14 hits allowed in 18 2/3 innings through his first three starts, but he's issued 10 walks in that span. The bulk of those came in a rocky season debut, after which the 26-year-old rebounded by allowing one run in 14 1/3 innings over his last two outings. Martinez is 6-3 with a 3.84 ERA in 19 career games (eight starts) against Cincinnati, and Reds slugger Joey Votto is just 3-for-19 against him, although Martinez has walked Votto eight times.
Bailey has allowed a run in six innings in two of his first three starts but his team is 0-3 in his outings. The veteran from Texas struck out seven and yielded two hits in his six innings of work at Philadelphia on Tuesday, getting through a start without allowing a walk for the first time in 2018. Matt Carpenter is 18-for-33 and Yadier Molina is 15-for-39 against the 31-year-old Bailey, who is 6-13 with a 5.86 ERA in 23 career starts against the Cardinals.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pham is 9-for-16 over his last four games.
2. Votto drew 134 walks last season but has just two through his first 13 contests in 2018.
3. The Cardinals open a three-game series at the Chicago Cubs on Monday while Cincinnati does the same in Milwaukee.