Reds at Cardinals, Game 2 - Preview and Lineups

Things really could not have gone much better for the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of their series in Busch Stadium against the Yadier Molina-less St. Louis Cardinals. Luis Castillo pitched rather ace-ish, Jose Peraza - in the lineup solely due to a LHP on the mound - responded with a big night, and the back end of the bullpen held up a lead late.

Hopefully, there’s more good fortune Wednesday for David Bell & Co. against the team for whom he coached bench once upon a time.

Anthony DeSclafani will toe the rubber for the Reds, and will do so looking to buck his trend of poor form. He’s allowed at least 3 ER in each of his last 5 starts, a stretch that’s seen him yield a total of 18 ER in just 23.1 IP. That not-nice 6.94 ERA has coincided with opponents tagging him for a yelp-inducing 1.016 OPS, too, so he’ll certainly be trying to find his steering wheel once again.

Of course, he’s faced the Cardinals 12 times in his career - more than any other club he’s faced - and owns a 3.45 career ERA against him across 60 IP, so maybe tonight’s the perfect chance for him to get right.

St. Louis will counter with starter Dakota Hudson, the rookie who allowed 3 ER in 5.2 IP against Cincinnati back on April 27th. He’s pitched to a rock-solid 2.80 ERA in 35.1 IP since that meeting, so the Reds might well have a tussle on their hands to score runs in support of Disco tonight.

First pitch is again scheduled for 8:15 PM ET, assuming the rain doesn’t fork this one up, too.

Reds Lineup

Cardinals Lineup