The St. Louis Cardinals host the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium on Friday, July 24, with first pitch set for 8:15 PM ET. Dustin May gets the ball for St. Louis against Cincinnati's Rhett Lowder in what shapes up as an intriguing pitching matchup between two organizations with plenty at stake in the NL Central race. The game airs locally on KMOV-4 and Cardinals.TV Presented by bet365, with radio coverage on KMOX 1120 AM/104.1 FM.

Pitching Matchup: Dustin May vs. Rhett Lowder

Dustin May draws the start for the Cardinals. The right-hander has shown flashes of the stuff that made him one of the more anticipated arms in baseball — a riding four-seamer and a wicked sinker that generates ground balls when he's on. The key for May on Friday night is executing early in counts and keeping Cincinnati's lineup off balance through the middle innings.

Opposing him is Rhett Lowder, the young right-hander Cincinnati has been building toward a larger role. Lowder is a contact-management pitcher who works with precision rather than overwhelming velocity. He'll look to keep the Cardinals' lineup quiet and give the Reds a chance to win a road game in a tough environment.

Cardinals Starting Lineup

• JJ Wetherholt, 2B
• Jordan Walker, RF
• Alec Burleson, 1B
• Iván Herrera, DH
• Lars Nootbaar, LF
• Masyn Winn, SS
• Nathan Church, CF
• Blaze Jordan, 3B
• Jimmy Crooks, C

Reds Starting Lineup

• Elly De La Cruz, SS
• Sal Stewart, 1B
• JJ Bleday, LF
• Eugenio Suárez, 3B
• Nathaniel Lowe, DH
• Spencer Steer, RF
• Tyler Stephenson, C
• Dane Myers, CF
• Edwin Arroyo, 2B

Keys to Watch

Contain Elly De La Cruz

De La Cruz leads off for Cincinnati and is the engine that makes the Reds offense run. His combination of speed and raw power creates problems for any pitching staff. If May can keep De La Cruz off the bases in his first couple of at-bats and force him into hitter's counts rather than letting him work the count on his terms, St. Louis gains a significant early advantage.

JJ Wetherholt Sets the Tone

The rookie second baseman hitting leadoff for the Cardinals has a clear assignment: get on base and create pressure. Wetherholt at the top of the order alongside Jordan Walker gives St. Louis the kind of table-setting tandem that can jump on a starter early. How Lowder handles Wetherholt in his first plate appearance will tell you a lot about how this game is going to go.

Middle-of-the-Order Production

Alec Burleson and Iván Herrera hitting third and fourth gives the Cardinals legitimate run-producing firepower. Burleson has the left-handed swing that can do damage against right-handed pitching, and Herrera behind him as the DH adds another dangerous bat. If those two are seeing the ball well, Lowder's night could get complicated in a hurry.

Prediction

This one comes down to which starter can get through the lineup twice without taking damage. May has the stuff to neutralize Cincinnati's speed-and-power top of the order if his command is sharp. The Cardinals lineup, with the Wetherholt-Walker-Burleson-Herrera core, has enough punch to manufacture a multi-run inning against Lowder. Busch Stadium on a Friday night with a crowd behind them — give the edge to St. Louis. Cardinals 5, Reds 3.