Rockies 6 - 2 Cardinals
Final
  for this game

Rockies-Cardinals Preview

Aug 1, 2015 - 5:19 AM Matt Carpenter has been the star for the St. Louis Cardinals halfway through this four-game set with the lowly Colorado Rockies.

Lance Lynn could take over that role when the series continues Saturday night because of how he has dominated the Rockies.

Lynn's lowest ERA against an NL foe is versus Colorado, and he's been nearly unbeatable at home as he seeks to win a fourth straight Busch Stadium start.

Carpenter is 6 for 9 with three homers and five RBIs in this series, going deep twice in a 9-8 comeback win Thursday and adding his 13th of the season in Friday's 7-0 rout. The Cardinals have used 14-hit attacks both nights.

St. Louis (66-37) has captured 16 of 19 at home over Colorado with five straight wins as it turns to Lynn (8-5, 2.71 ERA), whose 1.77 home ERA is baseball's fifth-best mark.

The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.37 ERA in four starts against Colorado with two scoreless efforts. The Rockies with the most plate appearances against him with seven apiece are DJ LeMahieu and Drew Stubbs, who have combined to go 1 for 13 with a walk and six strikeouts.

Lynn is 5-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his last seven home starts, posting a 0.86 ERA in three this month with 22 strikeouts in 21 innings. The one issue plaguing him is that he has baseball's fourth-worst run support average at 2.86.

That could be a problem Saturday since Carpenter could be cooled off because he's 0 for 9 with four strikeouts against Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa (6-4, 5.03), who is 6-2 with a 3.51 ERA in his last eight starts against the Cardinals. The left-hander is 2-2 with a 3.04 ERA in four at the current Busch Stadium.

Mark Reynolds is 3 for 20 with 10 walks and 10 strikeouts versus De La Rosa and Jhonny Peralta is 5 for 24 with two homers.

De La Rosa has a 3.07 road ERA compared to 6.62 at home. He has yielded six runs in each of his last two starts and escaped without a decision both times, including Monday's 9-8 road loss to the Chicago Cubs.

"I was thinking too much and tried to do too much, and it put more pressure on me," he told MLB's official website. "But I'm better than the way I'm pitching right now."

The Rockies (43-58) are 1-4 on a seven-game trip even with LeMahieu batting .522 in his last six. Nolan Arenado, who leads the majors with 78 RBIs, is 1 for 9 in this series as part of a 5-for-36 slump.

Corey Dickerson is likely headed to the disabled list with two broken ribs suffered in the series opener.

Peralta is 4 for 8 in this series with four RBIs after homering Friday. Stephen Piscotty is batting .400 in the last six games, including a two-run double in a five-run sixth inning that opened a 4-0 lead.

"After striking out twice (earlier in the game), I told myself there are two ways to handle this," Piscotty said. "I could curl up and hide or embrace it as an opportunity to redeem myself."

St. Louis boasts the NL's best bullpen with a 2.32 ERA. That unit received another boost after the club acquired Jonathan Broxton from Milwaukee on Friday.






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