The St. Louis Cardinals welcome the San Francisco Giants to Busch Stadium on Monday, September 14, for a 7:45 PM ET first pitch. With the regular season winding down, every game carries added weight in the standings, and the Cardinals will send young left-hander Quinn Mathews to the mound against Giants right-hander Landen Roupp. This is a matchup of two pitchers who represent the next wave of their respective rotations — and how they handle a late-season spotlight could go a long way toward shaping each club's September.
Cardinals vs. Giants Pitching Matchup: Quinn Mathews vs. Landen Roupp
Quinn Mathews gets the ball for St. Louis. The young southpaw has been part of the Cardinals' effort to build rotation depth, and a strong outing Monday night at home would do plenty for his standing heading into the final stretch of the regular season. Busch Stadium crowds have a way of energizing young pitchers, and Mathews will need his best stuff against a Giants lineup that is capable of making contact and working counts.
Landen Roupp draws the assignment for San Francisco. Like Mathews, Roupp is a pitcher whose arrow points up, and he has shown flashes of the kind of stuff that can keep opposing lineups off balance. The Cardinals will need to be disciplined early, avoid chasing breaking balls out of the zone, and make Roupp work deep into counts if they want to get to the Giants' bullpen.
Keys to Watch for the Cardinals on Monday Night
- Quinn Mathews' command: Mathews' ability to locate his fastball and mix in secondary pitches will be the biggest factor in how deep he can go into this game. A walk-heavy first two innings is the last thing St. Louis needs.
- Plate discipline against Roupp: Roupp can be sharp when he gets ahead in counts. The Cardinals' lineup has to resist the urge to chase early and force him to throw strikes.
- Bullpen management: In a late-September regular season game, both managers will be thinking carefully about how they deploy their relief corps. Watch how quickly either bench moves if a starter shows early signs of trouble.
- Leverage situations: With the season on the line in September, runners in scoring position need to be cashed in. The Cardinals cannot afford to strand the bases loaded in a one-run game.
Prediction: Cardinals Win a Close One at Busch Stadium
Home field matters in September, and Busch Stadium gives the Cardinals a genuine edge on a Monday night when the crowd is locked in. Mathews has enough to keep the Giants' offense in check through five or six innings, and if the Cardinals' lineup can get to Roupp by the third or fourth time through the order, St. Louis has the pieces to close it out. Call it a 4-2 Cardinals win — a grind of a game that comes down to one big inning and a clean late-inning performance from the bullpen.
Catch the action on Cardinals.TV Presented by bet365 or listen on KMOX 1120 AM/104.1 FM. Giants fans can tune in on KNBR 680 or NBCS BA. First pitch from Busch Stadium is set for 7:45 PM ET.
