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Cardinals-Reds Preview

May 14, 2010 - 4:24 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

St. Louis (20-14) at Cincinnati (19-15), 7:10 p.m. EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals are searching for answers after being swept at home by the NL's worst team. At the same time, they've allowed the red-hot Cincinnati Reds to set their sights on being the NL Central's best club.

The Reds would leapfrog St. Louis and take over first place if they can extend their winning streak to a season-high six on Friday night, when the Cardinals open an intriguing three-game set in Cincinnati.

After winning at Philadelphia on May 3, the Cardinals (20-15) had a five-game lead in the division they won by a comfortable 7 1/2-game margin last year. St. Louis, however, has seen that advantage all but vanish while losing seven of 10, including three straight to visiting Houston this week.

Meanwhile, the Reds (19-15) have won five in a row and 12 of 16, holding Pittsburgh without a run for the final 19 innings of their three-game sweep.

Johnny Cueto pitched a one-hitter in a 9-0 win Tuesday before Homer Bailey tossed a four-hitter during Wednesday's 5-0 triumph, with neither right-hander issuing a walk. Cincinnati pitchers have allowed a total of six runs during the club's winning streak.

"I think guys want to prove that they can do better than the other guy and that's healthy," catcher Ryan Hanigan told the Reds' official website. "Guys want to go out there and show everyone that they are not going to be the one that's the weak link in the chain, and that's what everyone is doing and it's a good feeling."

Aaron Harang (2-4, 6.02 ERA) will take his turn Friday, with Cincinnati's opening-day starter hoping to post a fourth straight quality start. He's 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in his last three outings, striking out a season-high nine in 6 2-3 innings of a 14-2 win over the Cubs on Saturday.

Harang, however, has lost three straight starts to the Cardinals, including two this year. St. Louis took two of three at Cincinnati from April 5-8, and again at home from April 30-May 2.

The Cardinals will need to do it again to preserve their hold on first place, and they'll have to play better than they did against the Astros. After making five errors in the first two games of the series, their powerful lineup was held at or below one run for the fourth time in 10 games during Thursday's 4-1 defeat.

Jaime Garcia (3-2, 1.18) didn't get any run support Saturday at Pittsburgh, allowing one run in six innings of a 2-0 defeat. Still, the rookie left-hander has been perhaps the biggest reason St. Louis leads the NL with a 2.68 starter ERA.

Garcia has worked at least six innings in each of his six starts, giving up one or zero runs in five of them.

"So far, it's been so good," Garcia told the Cardinals' official website. "The only thing I can do right now is just keep learning from all these guys and try to have fun and enjoy it."

Although this will be his first start against the Reds, Garcia surrendered a three-run home run to Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips while pitching in relief on Aug. 17, 2008.

Phillips is 4 for 8 in his last two games, while first baseman Joey Votto has three homers and nine RBIs in his last five contests.

"This is a good ballclub," third baseman Scott Rolen said. "I don't think there is any doubt about that. ... Right now, I think everybody has hit stride a little bit, so hopefully we can continue playing good ball."