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By all accounts, the Cincinnati Reds have had dang solid week. They got their sugars up in a Sunday brawl with the Pittsburgh Pirates, of course, but had an off-day on Monday to let things settle down, and responded immediately with a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins to set this 2019 season of their back on-course.
Then, they hopped a flight down to Monterrey, Mexico, where they’ll take on the St. Louis Cardinals in a two-game weekend set in what figures to be quite the event.
The host stadium will be the aptly named Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey, and as our friends at MLB.com relayed in their preview of the series, it’s far from the first time the stadium - and the city of Monterrey - have played host to MLB action. In fact, the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers tangled in three regular season games there just last season, and it’s the home stadium for the Monterrey Sultanes of the Mexican League when not playing host to these prime-time events.
As for the Reds opponents, the St. Louis Cardinals have had a bit of an up and down start to their season, too. They dropped three of four in their season-opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers, with import-slugger Paul Goldschmidt and his 3-dinger game the only thing that managed to get them a win in that first big contest of the season. Since then, however, they’ve settled in quite nicely, and at 8-5 sit tied with the Beers for the NL Central lead in early action. They’ll send veteran hurler Adam Wainwright to the mound for the opener on Saturday, and while his stuff is a far cry from what it was during his dominant peak, he’s still finding ways to retire batters with his slow curve, which he’s throwing nearly 40% of the time so far this year.
The Reds, meanwhile, will counter with a veteran of their own on the mound, with Tanner Roark getting the nod. Roark, too, has had some mixed results so far this year, but if he can finally get through the lineup the first time around without getting tagged, he might well settle in for a solid outing as he has after early damage in games thusfar.
First pitch is set for 7:10 PM ET on Saturday, and will be viewable per usual through both FS-Ohio and MLB.tv.
Vamos Rojos!
Reds Lineup
Saturday night in Monterrey. #MéxicoSeries | #BornToBaseball pic.twitter.com/f2VshiMr6S
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 13, 2019
Cardinals Lineup
DailyRoto Lineup Alert: Cardinals
— DailyRoto News (@dailyrotonews) April 13, 2019
1. 3B Matt Carpenter (L)
2. 1B Paul Goldschmidt (R)
3. SS Paul DeJong (R)
4. LF Marcell Ozuna (R)
5. C Yadier Molina (R)
6. RF Dexter Fowler (S)
7. 2B Kolten Wong (L)
8. CF Harrison Bader (R)
9. SP Adam Wainwright (R)https://t.co/MRx1sKcr7b