ST. LOUIS - We should have a good one at Busch Stadium tonight.
Both Jordan Zimmermann and Kyle Lohse, tonight's starting pitchers, rank in the top seven in ERA in the National League going into tonight's game, so we can expect quite the pitchers' duel.
Of course, I said pretty much the same exact thing back on Sept. 1, when these pitchers faced off at Nationals Park.
What happened then? Zimmermann allowed eight runs over 3 2/3 in his worst start of the season, while Lohse gave up eight runs (five earned) of his own over 5 2/3 innings.
So essentially, we should have a really good pitching matchup tonight, unless we don't.
Since that slopfest back on Sept. 1, both of tonight's starters have settled themselves.
Zimmermann has allowed a total of six earned runs over his last four starts, spanning 24 2/3 innings. He's earned wins in three of those four starts and looks much more like the guy we saw in the first four months of the season than the one we saw in August.
Lohse has won his last two decisions and has allowed seven earned runs over his past four starts, spanning 25 1/3 innings.
Jayson Werth has destroyed Lohse in his career, batting .389 (7-for-18) against him with three homers, three doubles and six RBIs.
For the Nats:
Jayson Werth RF
Bryce Harper CF
Ryan Zimmerman 3B
Adam LaRoche 1B
Michael Morse LF
Ian Desmond SS
Danny Espinosa 2B
Kurt Suzuki C
Jordan Zimmermann P
For the Cardinals:
Jon Jay CF
Matt Carpenter 3B
Matt Holliday LF
Allen Craig 1B
Yadier Molina C
Carlos Beltran RF
Skip Schumaker 2B
Pete Kozma SS
Kyle Lohse P
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