The St. Louis Cardinals are hoping a warming Masyn Winn is a sign of a coming hot streak as they continue their season-long 11-game road trip with the fourth game of their five-game set in Cincinnati on Wednesday night.
Winn came into the series in Cincinnati riding an 0-for-15 slump but the strong-armed St. Louis shortstop has come alive in the first three games. After collecting one hit in four at-bats in each of the first two games Monday, Winn broke out Tuesday, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a line drive home run in Tuesday’s 3-0 win.
“It’s funny how this game works,” Winn said after Tuesday’s three-hit effort. “I’ve been grinding out there the past week just trying to make solid contact and find a hole. To come out tonight and barrel up three balls feels incredible, but doing it on my exactly three-year anniversary in the majors makes it that much more special.”
His homer against Andrew Abbott was his fifth of the season, and helped the Cardinals win their sixth game in eight tries.
“He was hitting his spots early, matching (Kyle) Leahy pitch for pitch,” Winn said. “I just wanted to hunt something out over the plate that I could drive.”
The Reds, on the other hand, are slumping as a team. Cincinnati has scored one or fewer runs in six of its last 10 games, including last Friday when the Reds scored just once against Miami ace Sandy Alcantara. But that one run was enough for Chase Burns, who outdueled the Marlins’ right-hander in a 1-0 win and will take the hill Wednesday against St. Louis. Burns tossed seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in the win against Miami.
In a challenging season for the Reds, the 23-year-old Burns (14-2, 2.47 ERA) has emerged as an absolute powerhouse. The right-hander has overpowered opposing hitters, racking up 151 strikeouts while entering National League Cy Young conversations.
A major narrative surrounding Burns is his rapidly rising workload. He has already logged a career-high 131 innings this season. While analysts speculate that an innings limit might shut him down before the season concludes, manager Terry Francona remains firmly focused on the present.
“None. None. None,” Francona emphasized when asked about workload restrictions. “We have to try to win the game, and then we’ll try to win the game tomorrow. He’s fine. He’s in a range. He’s in a good place.”
Following his dominant outing against the Marlins, Francona continued to praise his young starter’s poise.
“He got enough early-count outs, and that allowed him to go deep into the game. … He was good. He was very good, and he had to be.”
Burns continues to rely on his elite upper-90s four-seamer and devastating slider mix to do the heavy lifting.
“Just fill up the zone. I’m not trying to be too perfect. Line it up. Try to let them put it in play,” Burns said. “I’m not a big in, out, up, and down guy. I’m kind of just throw it down the middle and let it eat. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I think it’s been working so far.”
The Cardinals counter with lefty Matthew Liberatore (5-10, 5.07). Since tossing six shutout innings on Aug. 2 in Toronto, Liberatore has dropped his last two starts, including a 3-0 loss to the Cubs in Chicago last Friday in which he gave up two runs in 5 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
