Carpenter available for Cards-Braves opener
Yesterday’s 7-0 defeat at Cincinnati capped a long road trip for the injury-riddled Cardinals. Now that they’ve returned to Busch Stadium, though, it’s time to get healthy in more ways than one.
Mike Matheny’s squad welcomes back leadoff man Matt Carpenter for tonight’s series opener vs. Atlanta, with an 8:15 p.m. ET first pitch in St. Louis. Online sports book BetDSI gives the Redbirds odds of -240 to prevail, while the Braves enter as +210 underdogs. The over/under run total comes in at 8.5.
A regular at the Midsummer Classic, Carpenter (.298/.420/.568) suffered a strained right oblique July 6. He rejoins a lineup that already paces the National League Central in runs scored (543), homers (148), RBIs (519), slugging percentage (.444) and OPS (.772). Nonetheless, even the big bats tend to stall at home, where the Cards own a 25-30 record.
On the bump, Jaime Garcia strives to rebound from a shaky showing last weekend. Starting on short rest, the lefty permitted six runs across 3 1/3 innings in an 11-0 loss to Miami. The past month-plus, frankly, has been tough on Garcia. He’s 2-2 with a 4.86 ERA since June 26.
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Joel De La Cruz, on the other hand, can’t claim that much service time in the majors. Atlanta’s righty draws his fourth career assignment this evening. Most recently, De La Cruz twirled 4 1/3 spotless frames vs. Philadelphia.
Efficiency, however, clearly remains an issue for the 27-year-old. That’s where St. Louis will take advantage, particularly with Carpenter working counts and Brandon Moss (18 dingers in 78 contests) anchoring the middle of the order. Basically, the Braves are bound for their 70th setback of the season.
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