Cardinals in danger of being swept at Busch for first time since 2013
With Miguel Cabrera in the midst of a power surge after a milestone home run, the Detroit Tigers can keep enjoying the ride by completing a rare feat at Busch Stadium.
The two-time AL MVP will try to deliver a longball in a fourth straight game Sunday night when the surging Tigers look to become the first road team to sweep a three-game set from the St. Louis Cardinals in 23 months.
Cabrera hit the 400th home run of his career long before Jose Iglesias came through with a 10th-inning, go-ahead single in Saturday's 4-3 victory. Cabrera, whose first-inning solo shot came just before a rain delay of 1 hour, 20 minutes, broke a tie with Andres Galarraga for the most homers by a Venezuelan-born player.
"That means a lot to me," Cabrera said. "But I just want to win and play games."
The NL Central-leading Cardinals (24-12) had been 14-3 at Busch before dropping the first two in this series. They haven't been swept at home in a series of more than two games since June 21-23, 2013, against Texas.
Cabrera will try to help Detroit (23-14) win its fourth in a row after homering four times in the last three. His next homer will move him past Willie Horton into sole possession of fourth on the Tigers' all-time list with 263.
The slugger is 7 for 15 with eight RBIs in the last three games and is batting .400 with seven homers in 18 away from home.
"He's definitely the best hitter in baseball and he's hands down the smartest player," manager Brad Ausmus said.
Cabrera, however, could have a tough time going deep in four straight contests for the first time since Aug. 9-12, 2013. St. Louis starter Lance Lynn (2-3, 3.27 ERA) has surrendered two home runs over 41 1/3 innings through his first seven starts and five in his last 145 innings at Busch.
Lynn has alternated between good and bad over his last five starts. He was on the positive side Tuesday, allowing four hits and striking out nine over six scoreless innings in an 8-3 win at Cleveland.
The right-hander lost his only career start versus Detroit in 2012, yielding five runs over five innings. Cabrera doubled, walked and struck out against him.
Yoenis Cespedes has gone 2 for 3 with a triple off Lynn, but his status is uncertain after he bent his left thumb back on a sliding catch attempt in Saturday's 10th inning.
Alfredo Simon (4-1, 3.05) starts for Detroit after a good bounce-back effort Tuesday, giving up one run with one walk over 7 2/3 innings in a 2-1, 10-inning win over Minnesota. He allowed nine runs and six walks in 9 1/3 innings over his previous two outings.
The right-hander pitched well against the Cardinals last September, allowing four runs over 13 innings in a pair of victories while with Cincinnati.
Kolten Wong (0 for 9), Matt Holliday (3 for 16) and Jhonny Peralta (2 for 11) haven't figured out Simon, but Matt Adams has a home run and two doubles in seven at-bats. Peralta, a former Tiger, has homered in the first two games of this series.
The Cardinals, hurt by some shoddy baserunning Saturday, have lost five of seven and totaled nine runs in the last four while batting .203.
"We've got to turn the page and come for a big Sunday night game," reliever Matt Belisle said.
