Reds look to end 3-game slide against Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals (49-46, third in the NL Central) vs. Cincinnati Reds (43-51, fifth in the NL Central)
Cincinnati; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (6-7, 3.99 ERA) Reds: Tyler Mahle (2-10, 4.83 ERA)
LINE: Reds favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 10 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Cincinnati enters the matchup as losers of their last three games.
The Reds are 19-24 against NL Central opponents. The Cincinnati pitching staff owns a team ERA of 3.92, Luis Castillo leads the staff with a mark of 2.49.
The Cardinals are 18-18 against NL Central Division teams. The St. Louis pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 4.05. Dakota Hudson leads the team with a 3.57 earned run average. The Cardinals won the last meeting 7-4. Hudson notched his ninth victory and Tommy Edman went 1-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs for St. Louis. Robert Stephenson registered his second loss for Cincinnati.
TOP PERFORMERS: Eugenio Suarez leads the Reds with 60 RBIs and is batting .246. Yasiel Puig is 15-for-41 with three doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for Cincinnati.
Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 18 home runs home runs and is slugging .428. Tyler O'Neill is 14-for-33 with two doubles, four home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Reds: 3-7, .264 batting average, 5.57 ERA, outscored by 12 runs
Cardinals: 6-4, .249 batting average, 3.27 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runs
Reds Injuries: Alex Wood: 60-day IL (back), David Hernandez: 10-day IL (shoulder), Amir Garrett: 10-day IL (lat), Nick Senzel: day-to-day (hamstring), Derek Dietrich: day-to-day (knee), Kyle Farmer: 7-day IL (concussion), Curt Casali: 10-day IL (knee), Tucker Barnhart: 10-day IL (oblique).
Cardinals Injuries: Mike Mayers: 60-day IL (shoulder), Jordan Hicks: 60-day IL (elbow), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm), Marcell Ozuna: 10-day IL (hand), Jedd Gyorko: 10-day IL (back), Matt Carpenter: 10-day IL (foot), Yadier Molina: 10-day IL (thumb).
