It will be a battle of southpaws on the mound at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Saturday afternoon as Nick Lodolo and Matthew Liberatore earn the starts from the Cincinnati Reds and Cardinals, respectively, in Game Two of this three-game weekend series between the National League Central rivals.
For Lodolo, the hope is that he has fully turned the corner from the blister issues that cost him all of April and left him weaponless in a pair of early starts after his return. Now that he’s back to being able to throw all of his pitches with confidence that they aren’t going to shred his fingers again, he’s looked more like the guy who had his breakout campaign in 2025. Over his last trio of outings, he’s fired 18.1 IP and yielded just 7 ER (3.44 ERA), though the 14/9 K/BB he’s sported in that time still doesn’t look like the precision maestro he is when he’s at his best.
Liberatore on the bump for St. Louis means that Terry Francona has leaned hard into a right-handed heavy lineup, something he’s prone to do each and every time he faces a lefty.
First pitch is set for a matinee 2:15 PM ET start.