Cards set pitching plans for series vs. Crew

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals will have played all of their games against the Reds this season by the time they play one against the Brewers.

But those matchups against the team chasing the Cardinals for second place in the National League Central will come in a cluster this week, with a five-game, three-day series scheduled for Monday through Wednesday at Miller Park. It will be the first time the Cardinals go to Milwaukee since a COVID-19 outbreak put them in quarantine for six days there in August.

The Cardinals are prepared, starting pitching-wise, for the next few days. After a successful workout Saturday, Kwang Hyun Kim will come off the injured list to start Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader. He will be 10 days removed from being rushed to an emergency room in Chicago with abdominal pain that was diagnosed as a renal infarction (kidney ailment). The lefty has had to remain cautious with his activity while taking a blood thinner, but he has made encouraging progress in this past week to be cleared for game action.

Daniel Ponce de Leon is scheduled for Game 2. Jack Flaherty will take Tuesday’s start, while Adam Wainwright is scheduled for Game 1 of Wednesday’s twin bill. Game 2’s starter will be determined based on what happens in the next few days with the bullpen. Lefty Austin Gomber would be on normal rest Wednesday if he’s not used in relief.

The Cardinals will stay at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee again, the same site they quarantined in when they were last there. They’re hoping they don’t have to stay quite as long this time.

“Between there and Chicago, we’ve taken up residence,” manager Mike Shildt said. “I enjoy it there. This series, thankfully and hopefully, we’ll be at the field a lot. It’ll be a bed, shower and bolt situation more at the Pfister, but I enjoy it.”

Cabrera available Sunday
As he was warming up to pitch the seventh inning Saturday night, Génesis Cabrera’s acrylic nail on his left hand kept coming off, and the Cardinals couldn’t get it to stay with superglue. The lefty exited without throwing a pitch, but Shildt said Cabrera should be available if needed Sunday.

“I think we’ve mastered the superglue,” Shildt said.

And indeed they did. Cabrera allowed one run in 1 1/3 innings in Sunday's 10-5 loss to the Reds, with two strikeouts and a walk. The walk came around to score in the top of the sixth inning, when Nick Castellanos laced a single into center field off Alex Reyes.

Cabrera cracked his fingernail in Spring Training and again a few weeks ago -- both times he’s had to be fitted with an acrylic nail. He didn’t feel any pain Saturday, Shildt said.

“Yesterday was more about the inconvenience of the nail coming off and being able to pitch with a nail that wasn’t attached,” Shildt said. “It wasn’t a pain issue, which is why we feel comfortable getting the nail attached. Keeping it there is going to be the key, but it’s not a pain issue.”

New candidates on the ballot?
Before Saturday’s game, Wainwright walked around the clubhouse wearing a T-shirt that read, “Wainwright/Molina 2020,” in the style of a presidential ticket, complete with an eagle. On Fox Sports Midwest, he teased that if the veteran battery doesn’t return next year -- 2020 is the final year on both Wainwright and Yadier Molina’s contract -- it’ll be because they “didn’t win the election.”