 |
 |
|
1-4, 5.19 |
3-3, 6.34 |
after a couple of disastrous starts in mid-april, zach duke appears to have turned things around: he's got a 2.87 era over his last 5 starts. but maybe he's only been lucky; during that supposedly good stretch, opponents are hitting .301 off him and slugging .455. the cardinals faced him 4 times last season and batted a cumulative .340 against him, but they only hit one homer and split the 4 games.
they'd best win tonight, because in the next two games they'll face the national league's third- and eighth-best pitchers in era --- tom gorzelanny and ian snell. here's the lineup, per bernie:
| eckstein ss |
| duncan lf |
| pujols 1b |
| encarnacion rf |
| rolen 3b |
| molina c |
| edmonds cf |
| miles 2b |
| wagonmaker p |
encarnacion is a career 7 for 13 against duke, and rolen is 4 for 6. nobody in tonight's starting lineup has ever homered against duke.