Cards-Bucs Preview
Pittsburgh, PA – Twenty-three of the St. Louis Cardinals’ remaining 39 games are against clubs with losing records.
It’s a schedule that would seem to give manager Tony La Russa’s club an excellent chance to qualify for the postseason.
Those teams, though, are the ones St. Louis can’t seem to beat.
Trying to avoid a fourth straight series loss to a sub-.500 opponent, the Cardinals send Jake Westbrook to the mound against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Cardinals –155 money line favorites for Wednesday’s game against the Pirates. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 98% of more than 304 bets for this game have been placed on the Cardinals -155.
St. Louis (68-55) has taken five of six from fellow contenders Cincinnati and San Francisco this month, but the teams with little to play for have given the Cardinals fits. Ace Adam Wainwright couldn’t hold an early 2-0 lead Tuesday, giving up two runs in the sixth and two in the seventh in a 4-3 loss.
The Cardinals fell to 3-7 in their last four series against the four clubs beneath them in the NL Central.
"At this point of the season we’ve got to win every game we can, and if I even hold them to one (run) right there we probably win that game,” Wainwright said. "You can put it on me.”
St. Louis has lost five of six series against sub-.500 clubs overall – a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh from July 30-Aug. 1 was the exception – and hopes Westbrook (1-1, 3.60 ERA) can prevent it from happening again.
The right-hander has delivered quality starts in all four outings since coming over from Cleveland, but hasn’t gotten much offensive support. Westbrook gave up three runs over six innings of a 6-3 loss to San Francisco on Friday.
All three runs came in the first three innings, increasing his total to six during that stretch of the game over his last three starts.
"… I need to do a better job of putting up zeros early on," Westbrook told the Cardinals’ official website. "It seems like the last couple times we have been playing catch up. Got to do a better job there."
Westbrook has only faced the Pirates in relief – he is 0-0 with a 1.13 ERA in four appearances, none since 2003 – but he’s gotten a look at what Pittsburgh rookies Jose Tabata and Neil Walker can do.
Tabata improved his average to .366 since the All-Star break with two hits Tuesday, while Walker drove in three runs and upped his average to .326 since July 17.
Tabata is 11 for 19 against the Cardinals.
Jeff Karstens (2-10, 4.98) would certainly appreciate some help from the Pirates’ lineup. Pittsburgh (42-84) has totaled 13 runs for him in his last 10 starts, a stretch in which he has gone 0-8, although he’s posted a 5.40 ERA in that span.
The Pirates would have needed to score quite a few runs to keep up Friday. Karstens gave up seven runs and 11 hits over 3 1-3 innings of a 7-2 defeat to New York.
"I threw a lot of pitches up in the zone, and when you don’t throw hard, you can’t do that," Karstens told the Pirates’ official website. "They made me pay for it."
Karstens should be happy to be facing St. Louis. He has made two starts against them this season, lasting six scoreless innings each time.
Albert Pujols, one home run shy of 400, is 2 for 8 without a homer versus Karstens.
Posted: 8/25/10 12:35AM ET