District On Deck
FanSided

Washington Nationals vs. St. Louis Cardinals Series Preview (5/26-5/29)

By Ricky Keeler

May 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday (7) hits a three-run home run off of Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Adam Warren (not pictured) during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports
May 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday (7) hits a three-run home run off of Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Adam Warren (not pictured) during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
Washington Nationals
May 25, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday (7) hits a three-run home run off of Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Adam Warren (not pictured) during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports /

The Washington Nationals will wrap up their seven game homestand with a four game series against the St. Louis Cardinals

This week, the Washington Nationals (28-19) lost two out of three games at home to the New York Mets. In their two losses, they scored only one run against Bartolo Colon and Steven Matz. However, in their lone win on Tuesday night, the Nats hit five home runs in a 7-2 win for Stephen Strasburg.

Tonight, they enter play with a ½ game lead in the NL East as they begin a four game series against the St. Louis Cardinals (24-23). Last month, the Nats swept the Cardinals at Busch Stadium for the first time since the franchise became the Washington Nationals. In those three games, the Nats outscored the Cardinals 17-6.

In the month of May, Mike Matheny’s club is 12-11 this month and they are eight games behind the Cubs in the NL Central.  On offense, St. Louis has scored 116 runs, which is the second most in the National League (Cubs have 120). The two players that lead the team in RBI’s this month with 15 are first baseman Matt Adams and third baseman Matt Carpenter (six home runs).

Another player to watch on their offense is right fielder Stephen Piscotty. Piscotty is hitting .360 this month with one home run, 11 RBI’s, and a .436 on-base percentage. He is fourth on the team in batting average (.328) and second in RBI’s with 26 (Carpenter leads with 32).

However, the problem for the Cardinals this month has been their pitching. Their team ERA of 4.61 is the second highest in the NL (Reds – 5.59). As far as their rotation goes, Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha are a combined 0-9 this month and have an ERA of 6.84 and 7.27 respectively.

As for the bullpen, closer Trevor Rosenthal is 8-for-9 in saves this season, but he has only had four opportunities to save games this month. St. Louis’ bullpen ERA is 3.70, which is the sixth lowest in the NL.

Before the series gets underway tonight, here is my breakdown of the pitching matchups in this series:

Next: Tonight's Matchup

Home/Max Scherzer