Reds vs. Cardinals: Pitching preview, prediction, and more

Despite injuries, the Cardinals are soaring of late.

Give St. Louis manager Mike Shildt credit. The Cards skipper has had to navigate his ballclub through more than their fair share of injuries and has the Redbirds relevant in the National League Central.

Entering yesterday, the Cardinals are 12-8 over their last 20 contests and have done most of their damage at home. St. Louis is 27-20 at home, but once the Birds fly away from Busch Stadium, they come crashing to the ground.

The Redbirds are a miserable 21-28 away from home this season, including an embarrassing 2-9 mark on the road in June. However, St. Louis has bounced back on the road this month, winning five of their nine contests.

One of the reasons the Cardinals have been playing better baseball of late has been the performance of first base Paul Goldschmidt. As play began yesterday, Goldy is slashing .322/.404/.575 with six homers, and 15 RBIs over his last 22 games.

However, the Redlegs have been more successful than any other team in the NL Central containing the six-time All-Star. Goldschmidt’s career numbers of 14 round-trippers and 41 RBIs versus Cincinnati are his fewest against any division foe.

Second baseman Tommy Edman has struggled mightily over the last four weeks producing a paltry .213/.250/.338 slash line. Despite an OBP of just .299 and making the second most outs in the senior circuit, Edman leads the NL with 380 at-bats. Some friendly advice to manager Mike Shildt from a Reds fan…keep playing Tommy Edman.