Diamondbacks Go for Series Victory Against St. Louis Cardinals

Jordan Montgomery returns to St. Louis to face the Cardinals and manager Torey Lovullo shakes up the lineup once again

The Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals will play for the final time in the 2024 regular season Wednesday at 10:15 A.M. MST. The three-game series is tied 1-1, the Cardinals having taken the first game 5-3 and the D-backs roaring back with a 14-1 victory last night. Arizona leads the season series 3-2. A victory would also get the Diamondbacks back to .500 on the season.

Starting Pitching Matchup

When Jordan Montgomery signed with the Diamondbacks on March 29th it was thought he would slot into one of the strongest rotations in MLB, alongside Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez. Now that Kelly and Rodriguez are both out for at least 1-2 months with shoulder injuries, it falls on Montgomery to be that strong No. 2 alongside Gallen, holding the rotation together.

Montgomery was traded to St. Louis on August 2nd, 2022 in a deadline deal. He made 32 starts for that team through July 30, 2023. Montgomery was very effective for the Cardinals, posting a 3.32 ERA in 187 innings, good for a 127 ERA+, or 27% better than league average. His overall record for St. Louis was 12-12, including 6-9 last year, due mostly to poor or mediocre run support.

In his first start with the Diamondbacks last week against the Giants, the veteran left-hander impressed his new team by going six innings and giving up just one run on four hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three. The lone run came on a solo homer. The only cautionary note is his fastball velocity was 91.6 MPH, down 1.7 MPH from 93.3 in 2023. This may be related to having shortened time to ramp up, but his early spring 2023 velocity readings were also well over 93 MPH.

The Cardinals counter with Kyle Gibson. In four starts he has a 1-2 record and a 5.04 ERA. The D-backs scored four runs on six hits in six innings against him at Chase Field on April 13th. The D-backs won that game 4-2. He took a no-decision in his most recent start, allowing just one run in six innings to the Brewers on April 19th. He allowed just three hits in that game but walked four.

Starting Lineups

The starting lineups for the Arizona Diamondbacks (12-13) and St. Louis Cardinals (10-14) on April 24, 2024 at Busch Stadium III, St. Louis, Missouri.

Michael McDermott

Ketel Marte, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Gabriel Moreno are all out of the starting lineup, getting days off. Last night's hero Pavin Smith, (Grand Slam, double, six RBI) will bat leadoff and play right field. Blaze Alexander is back in the lineup playing shortstop after missing two games due to a right hamstring cramp. Kevin Newman slides over to second base. Due to a day game after a night game, Tucker Barnhart is in at catcher. A slumping Corbin Carroll, after getting a day off yesterday, is dropped down to 7th in the order.