Time: 07:15 P.M. EST Venue: Busch Stadium
ST. LOUIS -- Even when you're tired, you know when you've hit it well. Matt Adams' 444-foot game-winning homer in the bottom of the 16th inning early Saturday morning against the Los Angeles Dodgers that gave the St. Louis Cardinals their fifth straight win, tying a season high, fits neatly into that category." That might be my best bolt," Adams said. Adams and the Cardinals try to summon more electricity for Saturday night's rematch with Los Angeles, with both teams desperately in need of long starts after emptying their bullpens this week. St. Louis (52-44) employed seven pitchers in its longest game of the year, two days after sweeping a day-night doubleheader that took a bite from its bullpen. But it's positively fresh compared to the Dodgers (54-44), who used eight pitchers Thursday in a 6-3 win at Washington and nine more on Friday night/Saturday morning. The ninth was Bud Norris, who started Wednesday night at Washington and absorbed an 8-1 defeat before tossing 23 pitches just over 48 hours later. His last offering was the one Adams clobbered over the Cardinals' bullpen into the seats in right-center field to conclude the 5-hour, 10-minute marathon." We were stretched as thin as we could go," Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. "You can't say enough about what Bud did. Two days off and taking the ball and trying to give us a boost was huge. The guys fought all game." Kenta Maeda (8-7, 3.25) takes the ball for the Dodgers, who will need innings of some sort from him, even if he is as ineffective as he was in Sunday's 6-5 loss at Arizona. Maeda gave up seven hits and five runs over 4 1/3 innings in one of his few clunkers this year. Maeda, who hasn't faced the Cardinals yet, will be opposed by Mike Leake (7-7, 4.00). Known more as a sinker/slider specialist, Leake has become a strikeout pitcher lately, punching out a season-high 11 Monday night in a 10-2 win over San Diego. In that game, Leake became just the 10th pitcher in major league history to fan at least 10 batters in consecutive starts while pitching at least six innings and giving up one run or less with no walks. With St. Louis' bullpen logging 10 innings Friday night and the identity of Sunday night's starter still undetermined thanks to a makeup doubleheader Wednesday, Leake, like Maeda, will have to provide a lot of innings regardless of effectiveness. By winning the series opener, the Cardinals pulled even with Miami for the National League's second wild card and drew within a game of Los Angeles for the first wild card spot." I feel like we're playing good baseball," St. Louis starter Michael Wacha, who worked six innings on Friday night, said. "Guys are having a lot of fun." The Dodgers, who remained four games in back of San Francisco in the NL West, could get right fielder Yasiel Puig (right hamstring) back into the starting lineup, although Roberts hinted Sunday night is a more likely spot for Puig's return.
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