Article Author:
Reuters
The St. Louis Cardinals have just swept the best teams in the American League, but they head west to face the worst teams in the National League West.
St. Louis won his third straight over the weekend against the New York Yankees, extending his winning streak to seven games. The Cardinals went 1-0 in the pitchers' duel on Saturday, and on Sunday he went 12-9 to win Slugfest. Bats is heating up in time for his series of three games against Colorado against the Rockies on Tuesday, starting in Denver.
Colorado sends Ryan Feltner (1-3, 5.75 ERA) to the mound to face Cardinals' Miles Mikolas (8-8, 2.92 ERA).
St. Louis have won 9 of their last 10 games to put him in first place in the NL Central, two games ahead of the struggling Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals swept his second straight series, allowing him a total of eight runs in six games by Sunday's shootout. "We have to keep playing like the Yankees," said shortstop Paul DeJong, who hit a four-run homer Sunday against New York.
His three wins in the Cardinals' winning streak were shutouts, but Sunday's game was taxing, even if it ended in a win. "It's nice to have a day off," said third baseman Nolan Arenado, who is returning to the city where he spent the first eight years of his major league career. “If you need a day off, (Monday) is the day.
1-0, 8.44 ERA in three games (two starts) in Denver
Rockies also start Monday But it didn't seem as fun as the Cardinals' breather, which has gone 5-13 since the All-Star break and is 6-of-8 on a fresh road trip through San Diego and Arizona.
Despite being far from playoff contention, the Rockies met the trade deadline last week when they signed Daniel Byrd to a two-year extension, but shortstop Jose Retained Iglesias and pitchers Alex Colome, Carlos Estevez and Chad Cool.
Colorado general manager Bill Schmidt said, "I still think pitching is my job." "And it's just too hard for us to get pitching. So we still have a core to build on. That hasn't changed."
Colorado State gave Feltner a chance to show that he is part of the future. He made his league debut in the majors last September and has been zipping back and forth between the Rockies and Triple-A Albuquerque this year. He has never played against St. Louis, and his ERA at home is his 1-2 and his 7.31 ERA.
Feltner started the first game of a doubleheader at San Diego on his August 2, giving up his three runs on his eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. He currently stands in for Cool, who was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday for a right hip flexor strain.
– Field Level Media
