The Cincinnati Reds will try to continue stifling the hitters for the visiting St. Louis Cardinals when they go for a sweep of their three-game series on Wednesday evening.
The Reds won the first two games of the series behind strong pitching performances from left-hander Andrew Abbott and right-hander Hunter Greene.
Abbott allowed one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 6-1 win in the series opener on Monday. Greene followed with an even better performance on Tuesday, allowing one run and four hits in seven innings of a 4-1 victory.
Emilio Pagan and Carson Spiers will try to continue that trend when they team up to pitch in the series finale for Cincinnati.
Pagan (2-3, 4.22 ERA) is expected to open the game and Spiers reportedly will pick up the bulk of the innings after an inning or two.
Spiers (4-4, 4.45) has dropped his past two starts, most recently allowing eight runs and seven hits in five innings of an 8-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
Spiers faced the Cardinals last season in his second career start, throwing three innings and taking the loss in the 4-3 defeat. He is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) vs. St. Louis.
Cincinnati first baseman Jeimer Candelario tied his career high with his 19th home run in the win on Tuesday. He said he has been keeping it simple at the plate.
“Just put myself in a great position to hit the ball hard and see what happens,” he said. “When you look for your pitch and be simple, try to hit the ball on the barrel, a lot of good things will happen.”
The Reds have won three in a row and 12 of 20 to stay in contention for a National League wild-card spot.
“The guys have always come together as a team from the first game through nine innings,” Candelario said. “The pitchers are doing an amazing job — and that’s what it takes to have a W.”
On the St. Louis side, the Cardinals will be trying to shake a three-game skid that has strained their own wild-card hopes.
“We just have to own it,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of the losing streak. “At the end of the day, no one is going to feel sorry for us. We have to own the fact that we haven’t come through in certain situations. … Moving forward, we just have to be better.”
The Cardinals plan to start veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson in the series finale. Gibson (7-4, 3.99) has gone more than a month since his last victory.
He most recently allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, but he did not earn a decision in the 6-4 loss.
He departed with a 4-2 lead, but the bullpen surrendered three runs in the seventh.
“I think it’s easy to get lost when you lose the last game of a series in a tough way,” Gibson said. “We still won the series, so they did a really good job the first two games.”
Five days earlier, the Chicago Cubs’ defense saved Gibson from a loss after he went seven innings with the Cardinals trailing 4-1, but they scored three unearned runs in the eighth to tie the score before winning 5-4.
In three career starts against the Reds, Gibson is 2-0 with a 5.40 ERA.
–Field Level Media