ITPV » Weaver has allowed just one home run to a current member

On May 16 Dre'Mont Jones Jersey , St. Louis Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter stood in the batter’s box at Target Field in Minneapolis. The career .275 hitter was batting an embarrassing .140, and St. Louis fans were calling for his benching.

What a difference six weeks make.

Going into Wednesday night’s series finale with the Cleveland Indians at Busch Stadium, Carpenter is now hitting .259. Since the middle of May, Carpenter has collected 53 hits and batted .349. His 16 doubles and 12 homers in that span rank second in the majors, and no hitter can equal his 1.115 OPS over that period, not even Mike Trout.

In Tuesday night’s 11-2 blowout of Cleveland, Carpenter did something no other Cardinal has ever done. He went 5-for-5 with five runs scored and belted a pair of solo homers. That’s a roll call not even Stan Musial or Albert Pujols can answer.

Included in that outburst was a leadoff homer off Indians ace Corey Kluber, a blast that cut a 2-0 deficit in half and restored energy in a dugout that could have gotten down after a quick deficit following a 90-minute rain delay.

“He’s one of the best in the game,” Carpenter said of Kluber. “That’s just an outstanding job by our team. We took a lot of good at-bats. I’m starting to put things together. We play a long, long, long season. I knew I could physically do it.”

A five-run second inning turned flames into an inferno, burning Kluber in the shortest start of his career. It also put the Cardinals (42-36) in position to sweep the American League Central leaders and gave them four straight wins after a stretch of eight losses in 10 games.

St. Louis will send Jack Flaherty (3-2 Will Harris Jersey , 2.50 ERA) to the mound in search of a sweep on Wednesday. Flaherty is coming off the best start of his young career, tying his career high with 13 strikeouts Friday night in Milwaukee. He took a no-hitter one out into the seventh inning before Jesus Aguilar golfed a breaking ball over the left-center-field wall.

But Flaherty had to settle for a no-decision that night in his team’s eventual 2-1 loss, although the performance may have made him a candidate for National League Rookie of the Year.

“He prepares beyond his years,” Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux told mlb.com. “If you saw him, you would think he’s been around the block.”

Flaherty has never faced Cleveland.

Flaherty’s resume does read like a grizzled veteran compared to Indians right-hander Shane Bieber (2-0, 2.45), who will make his fourth big league start. Bieber blanked Detroit over seven innings Friday night in a 10-0 victory, allowing just four hits and walking one while fanning nine.

“I was saying before the game that I was excited to watch him pitch, and that’s why,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said to mlb.com. “He pounded the zone with three different pitches. He changed speeds. That was fun to watch.”

Nothing about this series has been fun for the Indians, who in two games have managed just 10 hits, none for extra bases. That’s been a dramatic contrast after outscoring opponents by 54 runs during a seven-game winning streak.

SAN FRANCISCO — Johnny Cueto returns from a two-month stint on the disabled list to open a 10-game homestand when the San Francisco Giants host the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a four-game series Thursday night.

The Giants completed a six-game trip with a thud Wednesday http://www.thelionsfootballauthentic.com/austin-bryant-jersey-authentic , dropping a third straight game at Colorado to cancel out an impressive three-game sweep at Arizona.

San Francisco will have to hope a return home rejuvenates the bats that produced 41 runs during a recent 7-3 homestand. The Giants were held to three runs at Colorado, their lowest total ever in a three-game series at Coors Field by a full four runs.

Cueto surely has the potential to turn the Giants’ pitching fortunes back in a positive direction. Before being sidelined by a sprained right elbow, he went 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA in five starts in March and April.

After giving up no runs in two injury-rehab starts at Triple-A Sacramento, he was deemed healthy enough to return to the Giants’ rotation.

“When you’ve got one of your big guys ready to go, you pitch him,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced this week. “He passed all the tests. He checked every box off. He’s thrown the ball well — no runs. His bullpen (Monday) went well, he’s practiced bunts, he’s set to go.”

Cueto will be making his 24th career start against the Cardinals, against whom he has gone 7-8 with a 3.74 ERA.

He has never lost to St. Louis since joining the Giants in 2016, going 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA in three starts.

The 32-year-old has had more than his fair share of success against some of the Cardinals’ top guns: Matt Carpenter (.217), Marcell Ozuna (.200) and Dexter Fowler (.158).

Cueto will face a Cardinals team that will be riding the momentum of a late explosion that produced an 8-4 win at Arizona on Wednesday night.

Before that win, St. Louis had lost five of its last six games Rashan Gary Jersey , having totaled 19 runs in those games.

The Cardinals will send out 24-year-old right-hander Luke Weaver (4-7, 5.16) to face Cueto.

The third-year major-leaguer has struggled in his last nine starts, going 1-5, and is coming off his worst outing of the season when he allowed eight runs in 4 2/3 innings in an 11-4 home loss to Atlanta on Saturday.

Weaver has pitched well against the Giants in his career, going 1-1 with a 1.86 ERA in two starts, both of which were in San Francisco.

Interestingly, Weaver has allowed just one home run to a current member of the Giants, and that happens to be Madison Bumgarner, who is scheduled to pitch Sunday’s series finale against Jack Flaherty.

The Giants also expect to get Jeff Samardzija back from the disabled list during the series. He is slated to return from shoulder and pectoral soreness to start Saturday.

The Cardinals (44-41) and Giants (45-43) will open the series with nearly identical records. Both would be on the outside looking in had the playoffs begun Thursday.