Important Road Trip Begins Tonight

10 Games until the All-Star Break rolls into town.  Most of the Cards won’t see the field until July 17th, after the ceremonies come through.  Molina, Pujols, La Russa look sure to see some action, and this Sunday Franklin may find his invitation in the mail as well.  However, the Redbirds can’t look forward to the ceremonies, or the time off, because the biggest games of the first half lurk right around the corner.

The Central has been a tough division through the first half, with 5 of the 6 teams within 3 games of the lead.  The Cardinals will play 10 games in 10 days against 3 of those 5 teams beginning tonight.  They will have 3 in Cincinatti, 3 in Milwaukee, and 4 in Chicago.   They have a losing record this season against the Brewers and Reds, but have doubled up the Cubs, making their record agains these teams 13-13.

They should have Mark DeRosa back in the lineup, as his strained tendon is healing.  Hopefully DeRosa will be able to pull out of his slump, as he could be a real key in his return to Chicago.  Lohse will most likely come back for the evening game against the Cubs, the final game of the first half.  Lohse’s appearance will allow Wellemeyer only 1 more start to make his bid to stay in the rotation.  After last night he only needs to pitch reasonably well to get the nod.

Matchups vs. Reds
Friday:  Joel Piniero (6-9, 3.44) vs. Homer Bailey (0-1, 8.68)
Joel has pitched solidly, and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs since May 27th.  The bad thing is that the Cards seem to not be able to get any offense generated with Piniero on the mound.

Homer Bailey was stellar in his final four starts in AAA, but got beat up pretty bad in his 2009 debut.  The Redbirds are 2-0 against Bailey, and sent him away with a 14.73 ERA in those two starts.  This matchup clearly looks to favor the Cardinals.

Saturday: 
Brad Thompson (2-4, 4.69) vs. Micah Owings (5-8, 4.63)
Brad Thompson hasn’t had a quality start in his last three outings, and his last two starts the Cards lost with a combined score of 21-0.  However, he has two more starts to prove he can handle the rotation, so maybe we will see some better stuff.  But expect a lot of offense in this one.

Micah Owings has struggled, but came off a good start Sunday against the Indians.  The start just before was a meltdown, though, as Owings allowed a career high 6 runs.  Let’s hope the Cards replicate that start, as 6 is a very serious number around here.

Sunday:  Chris Carpenter (5-3, 2.42) vs. Bronson Arroyo (8-7, 5.69)
Carpenter struggled his last time out, but that was certainly unusual to see.  We can probably expect Carp to shine in this game, and if he can keep the score low the Cards have a great chance to win.

Arroyo has struggled, posting nearly a 7.00 ERA over the past month.  The Cardinals have good pop, so they are good candidates to extend Arroyo’s NL leading 20 Home Runs this year.  They just have to make sure they’re getting good at-bats and getting on base.

So all three games in Cincinatti gives the Cardinals a good chance.  No dominant pitchers, and no southpaws, while the Cardinals have two of their three solid starters on the mound.  The Reds can score, though, so the Cardinals breaking out of their scoring drought (only 2.3 Runs/Game over their last 10) is going to be essential to win or sweep this holiday series.