Current Series
Cardinals lead the series 2-0
| Mon 06/25 | WP: Victor Marte (2 - 1) SV: Jason Motte LP: Chad Gaudin (1 - 1) | 7 - 8 loss |
| Tue 06/26 | WP: Kyle Lohse (7 - 2) SV: Jason Motte LP: Carlos Zambrano (4 - 6) | 2 - 5 loss |
St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, Jun 27, 2012, 7:10 PM EDT Joe Kelly vs Anibal Sanchez Partly cloudy,rain. Winds blowing from right to left field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 85.
Complete Coverage > | ||
Get out the broom breakers gang, because the Miami Marlins are looking to bust a sweep.
The Fish are trying to avoid a sweep by the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals after a decently fought first two games of the series. The Fish are sending out Anibal Sanchez in the hopes that he can recover from his terrible last start, while Joe Kelly takes the mound for the Cardinals after hurting the Marlins with his bat in the first game of the series.
This game is also important because Fish Stripes and its tens of followers (!) will be invading Viva El Birdos for a joint Game Thread. The idea here is for our voices to be heard and not drowned in the sea of red.
Pitching Matchup
| Proj Win% | Proj ERA | FIP | ERA | Marlins | Cardinals | ERA | FIP | Proj ERA | Proj Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .540 | 3.62 | 3.37 | 3.94 | Sanchez | Kelly | 3.52 | 4.49 | 5.69 | .330 |
Anibal Sanchez is coming off his worst start of the season, one in which he went only 3 1/3 innings and gave up six runs with three strikeouts and four walks. Prior to that, Sanchez had been giving up runs but doing a good job with his peripherals for the most part, so the Marlins are hoping to chalk this last start as a simple aberration rather than a trend. Given how well Sanchez had pitched prior to that, it is likely he will be just fine, even in facing the best offense in the National League so far this year.
Joe Kelly is making his fourth major league start of his career, and his first few have gone decently. His strikeout and walk ratios are consistent with almost every non-star pitcher that the St. Louis Cardinals often boast, complete with low walk and strikeout rates. So far he has done well and he certainly beat the Marlins with his infield single to drive in the Cardinals' eighth and deciding run in Monday night's loss. Hopefully the Marlins bring a little payback.
Lineup
| Order | Player | Proj wOBA vs. LHP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Reyes | .350 |
| 2 | Hanley Ramirez | .354 |
| 3 | Giancarlo Stanton | .385 |
| 4 | Greg Dobbs | .291 |
| 5 | Justin Ruggiano | .300 |
| 6 | Omar Infante | .321 |
| 7 | Gaby Sanchez | .322 |
| 8 | John Buck | .293 |
Justin Ruggiano is getting a nice opportunity to go against the righty starter after impressing as the small half of the current center field platoon. He has certainly earned a few extra PA with his bat and capable center field defense. Greg Dobbs shifts over to left field from first base as he continues to chew on PA.
Notes
- Put in your Ichthyomancy picks here, but come over to the Viva El Birdos game thread for the joint community game thread with VEB and Fish Stripes! We Fish Stripers don't have the biggest numbers, but we need to make our presence known among those Cardinals fans, so let's get the ball rolling. Link upcoming. Click here for more details.
Bold Prediction: Marlins def. Cardinals 4-3