Reds at Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals have won five in a row overall and 10 of their last 11 home games to create some distance in the National League Central. The Cardinals look to add to those numbers on Friday as they begin the last leg of their nine-game homestand with the opener of a three-game series versus the cellar-dwelling Cincinnati Reds.
Marcell Ozuna and Yadier Molina each homered as part of a four-run fourth inning in Wednesday's 5-2 victory over Milwaukee, with the former pushing his on-base streak to 14 games while the latter pushed his hitting streak to 12 consecutive contests. Paul Goldschmidt is riding an 11-game hitting streak overall and is 8-for-13 with a homer versus Friday starter Anthony DeSclafani, while Ozuna is 5-for-14 with a homer against the right-hander. Eduardo Suarez recorded two of Cincinnati's five hits and drove in three runs as the club posted its fifth win in seven outings with Thursday's 4-2 win over Atlanta. Suarez has done most of his damage when the Reds have been designated as the home team, going 14-for-43 with three homers and nine RBIs in that scenario.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Cincinnati), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Reds RH Anthony DeSclafani (0-1, 5.59 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Miles Mikolas (2.1, 4.97)
DeSclafani answered two disastrous starts with a sterling one, but he received his second straight no-decision last Friday despite yielding one run on two hits in six innings at San Diego. The one run was a solo shot, however, as the 29-year-old has been rather generous in that regard with five homers allowed in three starts. DeSclafani has been taken to task by Matt Carpenter (9-for-22, three homers), although Molina is just 3-for-22 against him.
Mikolas became the first St. Louis starter this season to record an out beyond the sixth inning, as he permitted two runs on four hits in eight frames of a 10-2 victory versus the New York Mets on Saturday. The 30-year-old received a no-decision against Cincinnati on April 14, when he surrendered a three-run homer to Jesse Winker in the fifth inning. Mikolas, who owns a 2-0 mark with a 3.60 ERA in six career appearances, has held Joey Votto (2-for-11), Jose Peraza (2-for-10) and Scooter Gennett (2-for-9) in check.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cincinnati LF Derek Dietrich has just three hits since going 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs in a 5-2 win over St. Louis on April 13 in Monterrey, Mexico.
2. Cardinals SS Paul DeJong has multi-hit performances in three straight games and four of his last five.
3. Winker is 3-for-8 with two homers and four RBIs in two games versus St. Louis this season.