Reds and Cardinals Drama: Tuesday game was interrupted by a bench-clearing incident that resulted in the ejections of both managers.

Cincinnati Reds Scott Rolen, yells at an unidentified St. Louis Cardinals player being held back by teammate Jeff Suppan while umpire Mark Wegner holds back Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker, right, during an altercation in the first inning in Cincinnati on Tuesday. (Tom Uhlman/Associated Press) Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story/2010/08/10/sp-reds-cards-brawl.html#ixzz0wJYq1Vlp

The Reds and Cardinals added more intrigue to their race for the National League Central crown Tuesday when their game was interrupted by a bench-clearing incident that resulted in the ejections of both managers. Tempers eventually subsided, and the two teams will meet again for the series finale on Wednesday.

And when they do, St. Louis and Cincinnati will be locked in a dead heat. The Cardinals produced that congestion with a hard-fought victory on Tuesday, a game that moved past the early theatrics and into some compelling baseball. St. Louis is now 9-5 against Cincinnati and has won four of the first five series between the two teams.

“We’ll play better tomorrow. We have to get this one out of our system,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said Tuesday night. “The guys are busting butts. They’re not trying to play poorly. We have no choice but to turn it around tomorrow.”

The Reds will get a chance to push closer — and to regain exclusive control of the division — in Wednesday’s finale, and after that, the two teams won’t meet again until a final series in early September. Cincinnati, which has won four of its past six and nine of its past 13 games, will send Bronson Arroyo to the hill in Wednesday’s game.

Arroyo, one of just four pitchers with at least 200 innings in each of the past four years, leads all National League pitchers in starts (159) and innings (1026 2/3) since the beginning of the 2006 season. Arroyo has thrown at least seven innings in five of his past six outings and in 14 of his 24 starts this season.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, will start with an arm on the very short list of National League Cy Young contenders. Adam Wainwright, 16-6 with a 2.07 ERA, has been impressive on a number of levels. Wainwright, for instance, is only the second Cardinals hurler — along with Hall of Famer Bob Gibson — to have 16 wins and an ERA as low as 2.07 through 24 starts.

Wainwright’s 2.07 ERA is also the lowest for a Cardinal through 110 games since John Tudor logged an identical mark in 1985. Wainwright and teammate Chris Carpenter, in fact, are the only Cards to reach 16 wins through 110 games in the past two decades, and they’ve combined to go 35-5 in their past 40 decisions against division rivals.

Put all of those marks for dominance aside, though, and Wainwright is showing one strange disparity. The right-hander is 11-0 with a 1.22 ERA at home this season and 5-6 with a 3.00 mark away from Busch Stadium. Wainwright threw a complete game shutout in his most recent road start and has emerged victorious in eight of his past 10 starts.

The Cards like their chances, just like they’re enjoying a taste of October in August.

“I think we’ve got a good group of guys. We’ve got guys that love to compete and battle,” Matt Holliday said after Tuesday’s win. “This kind of atmosphere, I feel like we really embrace and thrive in. It was a fun game. a lot of intensity, playoff-type atmosphere, and we were able to play well.”

Baker, who is 93-94 all-time against teams managed by opposing field boss Tony La Russa, was asked Tuesday if this series — with all its implications — reminded him of one in late October.

“Close. … There’s nothing like playoff-atmosphere baseball,” he said of his team’s rivalry. “They’re one of the teams in the division that’s beaten us more than we’ve beaten them. We’ve still got time to equal that. They’ve hit us better than most teams have. But they’ve got Albert [Pujols] and [Matt] Holliday. Most teams don’t have that.”

Author: Paola