HEADLINE

Cardinals aim for four-game sweep over Dodgers

Field Level Media

April 11, 2019 at 7:19 am.

Walker Buehler dominated the St. Louis Cardinals as a rookie last season, much the way Michael Wacha completely shut down the Los Angeles Dodgers as a first-year pitcher during the playoffs 5 1/2 years ago.

Both right-handers will look to find that success when the Cardinals host the Dodgers in the finale of their four-game series on Thursday afternoon.

The Cardinals have won the first three games of the series and four consecutive overall.

Walker faced St. Louis twice last season and threw a combined 15 shutout innings.

He blanked the Cardinals on two hits over eight innings in a 3-0 victory on Sept. 14 in St. Louis. He missed out on a win the previous month when the Dodgers gave up a run in the eighth and two in the ninth in the 3-1 loss in Los Angeles.

Wacha gained notoriety when he beat the Dodgers twice in a six-day span to help clinch the 2013 NL Championship Series. Wacha did not allow a run over a combined 13 2/3 innings in Game 2 and the deciding Game 6. In both starts, he went up against Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who had won his second NL Cy Young in 2013.

Wacha hasn’t had nearly as much success against Los Angeles since then, owning a 1-4 mark and a 5.46 ERA. He hasn’t faced the Dodgers since making back-to-back starts against them in May of 2017.

Wacha (0-0, 1.54 ERA) has two quality outings in the books this season, but doesn’t have a win to show for either.

He allowed one run and four hits in six innings at the Milwaukee Brewers on March 31 and left with a 4-1 lead, but the bullpen gave up two runs in the seventh and two in the ninth in the 5-4 loss.

Wacha made his second start on Saturday, holding the visiting San Diego Padres to one run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He departed with a 3-1 lead, but the Padres scored a run in the seventh and four in the eighth in the 6-4 win.

Wacha has walked 12 batters so far, but only one has scored.

“They’ll eventually catch up to you,” Wacha told reporters after the win against San Diego. “I definitely don’t want to fall into that pattern. They will come back and haunt you. It’s something I’ve got to clean up.”

Several current members of the Dodgers have had success against Wacha.

A.J. Pollock is 5-for-10 with a home run, Justin Turner is 4-for-11, Corey Seager is 3-for-8 and David Freese, his teammate with the Cardinals in 2013, is 7-for-18.

Buehler (1-0, 6.75) had a rough season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing five runs and five hits in three innings, but avoided the loss when the Dodgers rallied to win 8-7. He bounced back with five strong innings at the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, allowing one run and three hits in the 7-2 win.

“It’s still a bit of a work in progress, but I threw some pitches that I liked (against the Rockies), liked the feel of,” Buehler said. “So we’ll get there.”

St. Louis third baseman Matt Carpenter, a three-time NL All Star who signed a two-year contract extension on Wednesday, is 0-for-7 in his career against Buehler with six strikeouts.

Buehler was taken 24th overall in the 2015 MLB Draft, one spot after the Cardinals selected outfielder Nick Plummer out of Brother Rice High School in Michigan. Plummer is still playing at the Single-A level in the St. Louis organization.