Redbird Rants
FanSided

St. Louis Cardinals Face Big Test Against the Chicago Cubs

By Steven McNeil

Apr 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; A general view of Busch Stadium as the Cincinnati Reds play the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning. The Cardinals won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; A general view of Busch Stadium as the Cincinnati Reds play the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning. The Cardinals won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
Apr 14, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia (54) is congratulated by catcher Yadier Molina (4) after throwing a complete game one hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won the game 7-0. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 14, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia (54) is congratulated by catcher Yadier Molina (4) after throwing a complete game one hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won the game 7-0. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports /

Game 2 – Garcia (1-0, 2.43 ERA) vs. Hammel (1-0, 0.75 ERA)

Game 2 of the series will feature Jaime Garcia up against Jason Hammel. This will be yet another entertaining matchup, as Hammel and Garcia have good starts to the season, with Garcia tossing a one hit, 13K shutout in the win over the Brewers on Thursday.

The Cardinals will be looking to expose the Hammel who is normally no better than a back end of the rotation pitcher. This will be an opportunity for the Cardinals to get on top of yet another mediocre starting pitcher, especially given Hammel has a 5.97 ERA against the Cardinals in a total of seven starts.

Garcia will be looking to face his biggest test of the year and put up yet another quality start. It will be hard to put up the kind of performance he put up against the Brewers, but with the Cubs being a team that strikes out a lot it is not too out of reach.

This is going to be the game in the series that the Cardinals have to win. They will have the greatest pitching edge here, and they have to take advantage of it. This will be a statement of the Cardinals’ pitching depth in comparison to the Cubs’ lack of such depth.

Next: Game 3

Home/St Louis Cardinals News