After losing eight of their past 11 games, the Cincinnati Reds must embark on a daunting seven-game road trip.
They open with four games against the resurgent Cardinals in St. Louis, starting with the series opener Thursday at Busch Stadium. St. Louis has won four of its first five games on the nine-game homestand.
The Reds’ trip will continue with three games in New York against the American League East-leading Yankees.
“Nothing changes with this team,” Reds manager David Bell said. “We’ll continue to fight through it, continue to look to make adjustments like we always do. But nothing will change from our players as far as how we approach every single day, trying to get better and doing everything we possibly can to get through this (slump) quick.
“We feel we’re still right in this. We have a long way to go. We have a lot of opportunity ahead.”
On Thursday, the Reds are scheduled to start left-hander Andrew Abbott (6-3, 3.40 ERA), who struck out 10 and walked one in Cincinnati’s 5-2 win over the Boston Red Sox in his last start on Friday. Abbott allowed two runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings.
“I was able to get pitches in the strike zone in all counts,” Abbott said. “I was able to win the race to two strikes. I was able to win the 1-1 counts. I was able to do things that in some games this year I haven’t been able to do. When I can get ahead of guys, I can throw a pitch that’s maybe a little bit out of the zone and get them to chase.”
He suffered a 7-1 loss to the Cardinals on May 28. Abbott allowed six runs on seven hits, including homers by Nolan Arenado and Nolan Gorman, in six-plus innings.
Abbott is 1-2 with a 6.89 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals.
St. Louis has won eight of 12 games after splitting its doubleheader with the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.
Miles Mikolas (6-6, 4.68) is scheduled to start the series opener against the Reds. He gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in six innings as Cincinnati beat the San Francisco Giants 9-4 in his last start Saturday.
Prior to that, he threw five consecutive quality starts.
He has struggled against the Reds in his career, posting a 5-7 record with a 5.26 ERA in 20 appearances, including 18 starts.
Alec Burleson has paced the St. Louis offense. He drove in three runs during the Wednesday doubleheader, giving him 11 RBIs in his past five games.
“I just want to continue to put good swings on balls and hit the ball hard because that gives you the best chance to get hits and hit home runs,” Burleson said. “Whether I’m lining out or whatever, I’m just going to continue doing that.”
Cardinals reliever Giovanny Gallegos (shoulder) was activated from the 15-day injured list this week. He pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday in Game 1.
“We’ve seen him do it before, and our hope is that he builds off a clean inning like today and starts to feel better about it,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.
Reds outfielder Jake Fraley and third baseman Jeimer Candelario are questionable for this game. Fraley was a late scratch from Wednesday’s game due to a lower leg contusion and Candelario is dealing with hamstring tendinitis.
–Field Level Media
