With both sides attempting to gain ground in the National League wild-card race, the St. Louis Cardinals host the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night.
The Cardinals have dropped five of seven games since the All-Star break and sit 1 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final NL wild-card spot. St. Louis also is a half-game behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are currently the first NL team out of the playoff picture.
Trying to stay afloat in the playoff chase, the Reds enter their third consecutive road set riding a pair of series victories. Cincinnati, which is six games behind the Diamondbacks, took two of three from both the Colorado Rockies and the Seattle Mariners.
Since St. Louis’ Dustin May hurled a one-hit shutout against the San Diego Padres on June 15, little has gone right for the right-hander. In five starts since the gem, May (5-7, 4.78 ERA) is 0-1 with a 9.92 ERA.
May threw five innings for the first time in more than a month on Saturday, but he surrendered five runs on eight hits while striking out six and walking four in a 5-3 loss at Arizona.
Despite May’s rough patch, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has confidence the 28-year-old can find his rhythm again.
“He’s competed well. He went through a stretch there where he gave us some really good outings,” Marmol said. “After the complete game, there have been some ups and downs, but he’s good enough to get out of this.”
Making the 91st appearance (77th start) of his major league career, May will face Cincinnati for the first time.
Among the Reds getting their first look at May will be All-Star first baseman Sal Stewart. The 22-year-old ranks fourth in the majors with 74 RBIs after knocking in nine runs across the club’s first two series since the midseason break.
“I think there are guys that relish those opportunities,” Cincinnati manager Terry Francona said of Stewart’s success with runners on base. “He’s so strong and he’s got great hitter’s hands. The ball just jumps off his bat.”
Despite the RBI surge, Stewart is batting just .130 (3-for-23) since the break.
On the mound, Rhett Lowder (3-7, 5.75 ERA) will be chasing a bounce-back effort for Cincinnati.
After appearing as a starter for his first 13 outings of the year, Lowder made three appearances out of the bullpen before re-emerging in the rotation after the All-Star break. Last time out, the 24-year-old right-hander lasted just 2 1/3 innings, allowing eight runs on 11 hits in a 10-3 loss to the Rockies on Saturday in Denver. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.
“(Colorado) was just being aggressive and I was probably leaving too many thick pitches for them. Balls were just finding holes,” Lowder said of that outing. “It was very frustrating.”
Lowder has thrown eight scoreless innings across a pair of starts against the Cardinals during his career. He faced St. Louis on June 7, allowing just one hit but walking five across three scoreless innings in a no-decision. The Reds lost 5-3.
–Field Level Media
