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Reds-Cardinals Preview

Sep 2, 2010 - 6:25 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Cincinnati (78-55) at St. Louis (69-62), 8:15 p.m. EDT

Nearly a month ago, the Cincinnati Reds were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals and relinquished the NL Central lead.

They've done a lot more than reclaim first place since then.

The Reds look to continue taking command of the division race when they open a key three-game set at struggling St. Louis on Friday night.

The Reds (78-55) have been jockeying with the Cardinals (69-62) for division supremacy for most of the season, and the race tilted in St. Louis' favor after a three-game sweep at Cincinnati from Aug. 9-11.

The rivalry also appeared to gain significant steam when a bench-clearing brawl in the opening inning marred the second game of that set.

However, things have changed drastically since with the Reds going 14-4 and the Cardinals losing 13 of 18 to give Cincinnati an eight-game cushion.

The Reds, who have lost 10 of 15 to the Cardinals this season, showed few signs of slowing Wednesday, beating Milwaukee 6-1 for their fourth straight win.

"There's more pressure on them than there is on us," said right-hander Bronson Arroyo, who will start Friday. "So we can go in and play good baseball, try not to get in any kind of scuffles, and hopefully leave one game better.

"We've got a bigger lead than we could have ever asked for at this point in the season. We're better than we wanted to be."

St. Louis, which is also chasing San Francisco and Philadelphia for the NL wild card, is trying to snap a season high-tying five-game slide after losing 5-2 at Houston on Wednesday. It's the Cardinals' second five-game skid since sweeping Cincinnati, and they were outscored 11-2 while getting swept in three games by the Astros.

"I'm not all that excited on the reception we're going to get when we get home," manager Tony La Russa said. "I know we deserve to get it. But we'll tough it out. This is a tough group. We'll just show them we're a better ballclub than what we just played on this road trip."

La Russa shuffled his rotation to use his top three starters for this series after they played a major role in last month's sweep of the Reds. Jaime Garcia, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright combined to allow six runs and nine hits in 19 1-3 innings.

The trio have also combined for 43 wins this season and are a collective 17-6 against the Reds overall.

Garcia (12-6, 2.33 ERA), considered a contender for the NL Rookie of the Year, will try to stay unbeaten this season against Cincinnati in the opener. The left-hander has won all three starts despite posting a 4.08 ERA.

He's won his last two starts overall by throwing 14 1-3 scoreless innings while allowing 11 hits with 13 strikeouts.

"I think every game I go out there is a big game, especially the situation we're in right now," said Garcia, who needs one more win to become the first Cardinal rookie to reach 13 since Alan Benes in 1996.

Arroyo (14-8, 3.82) has gone 0-2 with a 9.72 ERA over three starts at Busch Stadium since winning in April 2008. He was charged with the 6-1 loss to St. Louis in the series finale last month after allowing four runs in five innings.

Arroyo gave up three runs and five hits - including two homers - in a 3-2 defeat to Chicago on Saturday.