St. Louis Cardinals’ Joe Kelly to make start on Friday against Los Angeles Dodgers – MLB News
The St. Louis Cardinals' pitcher Joe Kelly will make his first start at Dodger Stadium on Friday, September 14. This will be one of the challenging starts for the St. Louis Cardinals, a club that is looking to grab the Wild Card as the Cincinnati Reds seem all set to win the Division title.
Much as the challenge is huge, Kelly is all ready to embrace it. A big number of his friends and family members are expected to turn up there.
"It's going to be fun," Kelly said. "I'm just going to go out there and be the same. I'm going to throw the same here as I would in, say, Milwaukee, though it will probably feel a little different to me. There will be some excitement. I'll just go out there control my energy and try not to put any more pressure on myself."
At a time when speculations are rife about the possible return or complete ouster of Chris Carpenter – Kelly’s start will go a long way to determine how the rotation will be for the Cardinals in the coming games.
The Cardinals are, for now, grappling with the challenge of a strong defence. The pitchers have struggled a bit lately, something that they will be looking to overcome sooner than later to make it to the playoffs.
Kelly has pitched against the Dodgers before. But this one will be different as it is coming at a very different time. Especially considering that there is the prospect of making it to the playoffs.
"I don't want to go out there and try too hard again," Kelly said. "It's not like my last start against them was terrible, but I feel like I could have done a lot better. I'm going to go out there and learn from my mistake."
Giving up four runs in just over twelve innings in ten of his last twelve starts, Kelly so far has come across as one of the effective pitchers for the Cardinals. Nonetheless, Friday’s outing against the Dodgers will be a big test for him and for the team to keep themselves in the race for the Wild Card spot.
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