Series Preview 9/11-13: Reds vs. Cardinals

After splitting doubleheaders with the Twins and Tigers this week, the Cardinals find themselves at 19-18 with 21 games to play over the next 17 days — with no scheduled days off. The Cardinals have won five of seven games against the Reds this season, and this will be the teams’ final meeting of the regular season.

Adam Wainwright and Luis Castillo will be the starters for Friday night’s game. Wainwright will make his seventh start of the year on Friday, and he enters the assignment leading the St. Louis staff across the board. Wainwright has a 2.68 ERA over 40 ¹⁄₃ innings with a .192 opponents’ batting average. Wainwright worked seven innings against the Reds on 8/20 and held them to two earned runs.

Castillo turned in his fourth quality start of the season in his last start, with eight punchouts and just two runs allowed to the Pirates over six innings. Castillo often gets overshadowed in the Reds’ rotation by Trevor Bauer and Sonny Gray — the two Cincinnati starters the Cardinals won’t face this weekend; nonetheless, Castillo has been a dependable piece of the Reds’ staff for four seasons. Castillo has a 4.29 ERA in 10 career starts against the Cardinals. Paul Goldschmidt, Paul DeJong, and Matt Carpenter have each homered twice off the Reds’ righty.

On Saturday evening, Dakota Hudson will face Tejay Antone. This will be Hudson’s third start of 2020 against the Reds and his seventh overall. Hudson will look to pitch beyond the fifth inning for the third time this year. In 11 ²⁄₃ innings combined between the first two starts, Hudson has allowed just one earned run with 13 strikeouts.

Antone made his Major League debut back in July and has worked in eight games for the Reds — three as a starter. The Cardinals faced Antone on 8/22, when the right-hander logged 2 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings out of the ‘pen. This season, Antone has fanned 33 batters in 25 ¹⁄₃ frames.

The Cardinals have not announced who will start on Sunday

The Cardinals have not announced who will start on Sunday. This rotation spot had been occupied by Johan Oviedo. Oviedo does not have COVID-19; instead, he was placed on the COVID-IL after he came into contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

Tyler Mahle will go for the Reds in Sunday’s series finale. Mahle turned in seven innings of three-run ball against the Cardinals on 9/2 and followed that with another seven-inning outing against the Reds on 9/8. Brad Miller and Yadier Molina homered off Mahle back on 9/2 — an eventual Reds’ walk-off win.

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Friday, 9/11, 7:15 | Wainwright vs. Castillo | FSMW, KMOX, WJIR

Saturday, 9/12, 7:15 | Hudson vs. Antone | FSMW, KMOX, WJIR

Sunday, 9/13, 1:15 | TBD vs. Mahle | FSMW, KMOX, WJIR