MLB Game Preview - Cincinnati at St. Louis

Sat Aug 31, 2019 7:15 PM EDT

After a rainout Friday night at Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Cardinals and visiting Cincinnati Reds will play back-to-back doubleheaders this weekend.

The Cardinals have won 15 of their last 19 games. They lead the National League Central by one game over the Chicago Cubs, six games over the Milwaukee Brewers and 10 1/2 games over the Reds.

Friday's scheduled starting pitchers were pushed back to the first game Saturday. Dakota Hudson (13-6, 3.47 ERA) will pitch for the Cardinals and Trevor Bauer (10-11, 4.34) for the Reds.

Hudson has won his last three starts while pitching 18 1/3 scoreless innings. He struggled with his control in his previous start, walking three batters in a 6-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

"I had to really find it as the game went on, and that includes aggression with what I'm doing," Hudson told MLB.com. "That aggression, instead of nibbling that outside corner, I'm able to play it out there, but play it down in the zone and trust it to do what it's going to do and trust my defenders, which, they've been incredible all year."

In three starts against the Reds this season Hudson is 2-0 with a 3.71 ERA. His career ERA against Cincinnati is 3.22 in four appearances.

Bauer is 1-3 with a 7.62 ERA in five starts since arriving in a trade with the Cleveland Indians. Bauer expects more of himself.

"I hold myself to such high standards that when I meet them, it's a neutral thing because I expect myself to do that," Bauer told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "When I don't, it's a negative thing. I live in a constant state of neutral to negative. There is not much positive surrounding my good outings because I expect myself to do that."

In one career start against the Cardinals, back in 2015, Bauer allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 loss.

In the second game, Sonny Gray (10-6, 2.92 ERA) will pitch for the Reds and Michael Wacha (6-6, 5.24) will go for the Cardinals.

Gray has been brilliant in August, going 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA in five starts.

He is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts against the Cardinals this season, the only time he has faced them in his career. Gray held them scoreless for five innings Aug. 15 in a 2-1 victory.

Wacha is 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA in three appearances against the Reds this season, including one start. He is 12-2 with a 2.83 ERA in 22 career outings against them.

Both teams will be able to exploit the Sept. 1 roster expansion to get extra pitchers for Sunday's games. But both teams will play Monday home games, too, so they will have to play five games in roughly a 53-hour span.

"It seems like every year, every team has a stretch like this, it really does," Reds manager David Bell told reporters. "In a lot of ways, we're used to it. It's just one more challenge that you have to get through.

"A lot of times you end up playing your best baseball because you're so focused, and you know you have to give everything you have, and sometimes it can get you on a roll. So that's what we're hoping at this point."

Before Friday's game, the Cardinals placed outfielder Lane Thomas on the injured list with a broken wrist and recalled outfielder Tyler O'Neill. Also, the team recalled pitcher Daniel Ponce de Leon as their 26th player for the doubleheader and he will start the second game Sunday.

--Field Level Media.