Reds-Cardinals Round Two Preview

Apr 2, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Tony Cingrani (52) pitches during the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Reds and St Louis Cardinals will match up for the fourth time this young season this afternoon,as the scene shift to St Louis, where it will be the Cardinals’ home opener and their first game in Busch stadium since Game 5 of the World Series against the Boston Red Sox last season.

This is the second year in a row that the Cardinals home opener has been played against Cincinnati. The Reds were 13-4 winners in that game, where Cincinnati scored nine runs in the ninth inning.

Cardinals starter for today Michael Wacha, a second-year pitcher, has never given up a run to the Reds during his brief career,  16 2/3 scoreless innings.

This will be a rematch from last Wednesday, when Wacha and Tony Cingrani dueled before the game was decided in the ninth inning on Chris Heisey’s RBI single for a 1-0 Reds win. Wacha gave up three hits and struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings, while Cingrani allowed two hits over seven innings with nine strikeouts.

“They were coming out swinging and weren’t putting too many good swings on it. It helped me out a little bit,” Cingrani said.

The Cardinals have been the Reds’ closest NL Central rival in recent years, but it’s been tough sledding for Cincinnati. In their last nine series vs. St. Louis, the Reds are 1-8, with the only winning series being a four-game set Sept. 2-5 last season.

Last week at Great American Ball Park, the Cardinals took two of three games, but all of the games were decided by one run.

So, can this team finally win a series’ inside Busch stadium? It will be tough, but in any series in St Louis, when these teams face off always favors the Cardinals, maybe it could change this season, who knows?

First pitch is at 4:15pm, TV: FSN OHIO, RADIO: 700 WLW.

In 30 series at St. Louis since 2003, the Reds have gone 3-25-2, with the last series win coming in September 2011