A spot in the team record books is on the line Sunday, as well as an opportunity to solidify their playoff positioning.
But if the St. Louis Cardinals are to beat the Cincinnati Reds at Busch
Stadium and capture their 11th consecutive series, they will probably
need a strong start from a guy that recently lost his spot in the
rotation.
Manager Mike Shildt has opted to give an extra day of rest to the likes
of Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas and John Gant ahead of their starts
Monday through Wednesday in Washington. Shildt is going with righthander
Luke Weaver (7-11, 4.59 ERA), who will make his first start since an
Aug. 16 loss to the Nationals, which occurred four days after he was
scratched with a cut on his right index finger from trying to open a
food tray.
After starting the season as perhaps the team's second-best starter
behind Carlos Martinez, Weaver hasn't been able to consistently command
his pitches. Good starts became less frequent, replaced by outings in
which the Cardinals had to dip into their bullpen before the fifth
inning was over.
Since moving to the bullpen, Weaver has yielded one run and five hits in
four innings over three appearances, picking up the win in a 5-2
victory Aug. 21 at the Los Angeles Dodgers with 2 1/3 innings.
Weaver is 3-0 with a 5.16 ERA in five career games against Cincinnati,
but will probably be on a short leash. With St. Louis (76-60) occupying
one of the two wild-card spots in the National League and sporting a
fresh bullpen after Tyson Ross soaked up 4 2/3 innings of long relief in
Saturday night's 4-0 defeat, Weaver won't have much room for error.
The Cardinals had little chance Saturday night. Reds starter Luis
Castillo dominated for 6 2/3 innings, whiffing 11 and allowing only two
hits in earning the win.
"The reality is not a lot of people are going to do anything to him with
what he had," Shildt said of Castillo. "He had really nasty stuff and
was able to repeat it and, locate it. Nice outing by that young man."
Cincinnati righthander Anthony DeSclafani (7-4, 4.34) will try to
replicate what Castillo did. In his last outing Tuesday night,
DeSclafani picked up a 9-7 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday, allowing
seven hits and four runs in 6 2/3 innings while walking one and fanning
six.
He went 3-1 with a 2.62 ERA in five August starts.
"I think we see Anthony DeSclafani as handling the workload," Reds
interim manager Jim Riggleman said to mlb.com before Tuesday night's
game. "He's a good Major League pitcher."
DeSclafani has pitched well against the Cardinals in his four-year
career, going 5-2 in nine outings (eight starts) with a 3.30 ERA. But
they got to him July 15, ripping him for six runs on five hits and a
walk in 3 1/3 innings of a 6-4 loss.
And St. Louis might beef up its lineup for the series finale.
It activated left fielder Marcell Ozuna (shoulder) off the 10-day
disabled list Saturday. Shildt said before Saturday night's game that he
anticipates Ozuna will return to the lineup Sunday.
The Cardinals enter Sunday 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
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