The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds will wrap up their three-game series on Wednesday night in Cincinnati. The two teams will wrap up the month of August with the Cardinals looking towards a playoff push and the Reds already looking towards next season. The pitching matchup on Wednesday night will feature a pair of lefties as Jose Quintana (4-6, 3.45) of the Pirates taking on Mike Minor (3-10, 6.10) of the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm EST.
The St. Louis Cardinals are heading into the month of September in much better shape than they were in 2021. Last season, the Cardinals needed a 15-game win streak to end the season to sneak into a wildcard spot in the National League, still behind first-place Milwaukee. This season, the Cardinals are more than 20 games over .500 and have built a fairly comfortable lead in the NL Central over last year's champs, the Brewers. The Cardinals powerful lineup welcomed the change to the Reds' hitter-friendly home, the Great American Ballpark. On Monday night, the Cardinals blasted the Reds 13-4 behind four home runs, including two by Tyler O'Neill. On Tuesday night in Cincinnati, the Cardinals' bats were silenced by Reds pitching in a 5-1 Cincinnati win. The Cards had just four hits and their only run came courtesy of a Tommy Edman solo home run.
Happy 41st Birthday @UncleCharlie50! ?? pic.twitter.com/2IqPs7D77k
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 30, 2022
The Cardinals bats have been red-hot even before heading to Cincinnati and the team is now hitting .284 in their last ten games heading into Tuesday night's action. The Cardinals have gone 7-3 over this stretch and have hit 18 home runs as a team. The team is also averaging nearly six runs per game in this stretch at 5.8 runs per game. On Wednesday night, the Cardinals will send one of their recently acquired starters, Jose Quintana, to the hill vs. the Reds. With the Cardinals, Quintana has gone 1-1 with a 3.28 ERA and has allowed 26 hits in 24.2 innings. Against Cincinnati this season, Quintana pitched seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits in his only appearance vs. the Reds while pitching for Pittsburgh.