Tigers—Cardinals: Game 64 Preview

Date: June 16, 2009
Time: 8:15pm
Teams: Detroit Tigers at St. Louis Cardinals
Park: Busch Stadium
Weather: 83 and partly cloudy. Chance of rain later in the evening.
Starting Pitchers: Justin Verlander(7-2, 3.02)  Adam Wainwright(6-4, 3.49)
Records: Detroit(34-29)  St. Louis(34-30)
Last 10 Games: Detroit(6-4)  St. Louis(3-7)

My Two Cents

The Tigers and Cardinals actually have some things in common. 

Their records are nearly identical. They have both received pretty good pitching so far this season. Both teams feature huge bats in the middle of their lineup, with Cabrera and Pujols, but they both struggle to get runs across the plate. 

The Tigers just wrapped up a three game series against the lowly Pirates and scored a total of nine runs. Meanwhile, the Cardinals scored a total of six runs against the Indians in their three game set over the weekend. 

Good luck to the Cardinals who have to face Justin Verlander, probably the hottest pitcher in all of baseball. Verlander is 7-0 in his last nine starts with an ERA of 1.10. 

Starting for the Cardinals is Adam Wainwright who has struggled a bit in his last three starts. He’s given up 24 hits in 20 innings and has an ERA of 4.50, not awful, but certainly hittable. This will be Wainwright’s first career start against the Tigers. 

Albert Pujols is a career .543 hitter against Tigers pitching with three home runs in ten games. It should go without saying, but Tigers pitchers should be careful with him this week.