Cards Take On Braves

The St. Louis Cardinals return to Busch Stadium, their first home stand since Sunday, July 24. Although the Cards have suffered a 5-5 record since then, it’s time to get serious as the season begins to wrap up, since we are now 2/3 of the way through the season. Tonight, the Redbirds open a 3-game set against the Braves, then another 3-game series against the Reds.

The Braves, in a rebuilding season, have a 39-69 record (.361), but that’s not much of an indication of performance against the Cards, as we saw with this week’s 1-2 series dropped to the NL Central last place Reds. Jaime Garcia (7-8, 4.30 ERA, 99 K’s) of the Cardinals battles Joel De La Cruz (0-3, 3.80 ERA, 12 K’s) of the Braves. A huge plus to tonight’s game is Matt Carpenter’s return to the team. Carpenter has been out the past month with a right oblique injury, which caused him to miss this year’s All-Star Game.

And how about Zach Duke? Duke’s side-arm pitches are a batter’s nightmare. Couple his delivery with his speed, and add a dash of consistency, and Duke will remain a solid addition to our bullpen.

Finally, the injuries keep coming! Aledmys Diaz was put on the 15-day DL for Monday due to a right thumb fracture. That leaves Jhonny Peralta, Greg Garcia, and Jedd Gyorko as possible Short Stops. Trevor Rosenthal, who suffers from a right shoulder inflammation, will hopefully return in the month of August. He is expected to begin throwing again next week. And Jordan Walden is likely to return in the 2016 season. Marco Gonzalez, Mitch Harris, Lance Lynn, Tyler Lyons, and Brayan Pena are all out until next season.

Watch Matt Holliday's catch during Wednesday's game vs. the Reds.

Catch tonight’s game on 105.3 FM ESPN Evansville, with the pre-game starting at 6:20 pm. Play ball!

Upcoming Games

Game times and pitchers are subject to change. Go to stlcardinals.com for the most up-to-date schedule and information.

NL Central Standings

105.3 WJLT ESPN Evansville only airs games via radio broadcast. Online listening can be found at mlb.com.