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Cards hope Wacha will complete strong first turn through rotation
If there is any consolation to be gleaned from their 1-3 start, the St. Louis Cardinals can look to their starting rotation.
In their first 25 2/3 innings of the season, St. Louis starters Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn and Mike Leake have permitted five runs. Martinez and Leake each worked into or finished the eighth inning, and Wainwright's and Lynn's shorter outings were still effective.
Michael Wacha will try to complete a good first turn through the rotation while snapping a three-game losing streak Saturday when the Cardinals continue their weekend series with the Cincinnati Reds.
"The starters are throwing well, no question," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said after Friday night's 2-0 loss to Cincinnati. "Today was exactly what we anticipated and hoped for from Mike Leake. It's a shame to lose a great start like that."
Lose they did, though, as the Cardinals could manage only two measly singles off rookie Amir Garrett and two relievers in dropping their third straight game since an Opening Night victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Wacha, who endured the worst season of his big-league career in 2016 as he went 7-7 with a 5.09 ERA, looked this spring more like the pitcher who won four postseason games in 2013. Wacha has displayed the fastball accuracy that marked the first two-plus seasons of his career, enabling him to access the changeup that can dominate opposing hitters.
He also has a track record of success against Cincinnati, going 6-1 with a 3.07 ERA in 14 career appearances, 12 of them starts. St. Louis has won his last seven starts against the Reds, and Wacha is also 8-3 with a 2.65 ERA in 15 career starts in April.
But even a good outing from Wacha will require a little help from an offense that is struggling to find its niche in the first week. The Cardinals enter Saturday's game with a .188 average and 35 strikeouts in 128 at-bats.
"We just couldn't get anything going offensively," Matheny said. "We need to put some hits together. We made a few hard outs, but it's not like we had all kinds of chances."
St. Louis will try to get the offense cranking against a guy it's hit around in the past. Forty-year-old Bronson Arroyo, who hasn't pitched a big-league game since June 2014, will be activated to make the start for Cincinnati.
Arroyo pitched for the Reds from 2006-13, ranking eighth in franchise history in starts and strikeouts. But he's only 8-17 with a 4.69 ERA in 39 career games, 37 of them starts, against the Cardinals and has been cuffed around for a 5.33 ERA in his starts in St. Louis.
In fact, Busch Stadium has been somewhat of a jinx park for Cincinnati. It has won just four of its previous 39 series there dating to 2003. However, the Reds do own five wins in their last eight games there, including Friday night.
"The Cardinals don't go away, but the fact that we were able to limit them today was impressive," Cincinnati manager Bryan Price said.
