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Cardinals-Marlins Preview

Jun 11, 2009 - 5:21 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

St. Louis (31-28) at Florida (29-31), 12:10 p.m. EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals hope their highest-scoring game of the season will give them the momentum needed to win another series from the Florida Marlins.

St. Louis looks to win its eighth straight series from Florida on Thursday in the finale of a three-game set at Land Shark Stadium.

The Cardinals (32-28) snapped a season-high five-game losing streak with a 13-4 rout on Wednesday. That was one more run than they had totaled during the skid.

After batting .209 during the slide, St. Louis finished with a season high-tying 18 hits. Rick Ankiel was a single shy of the cycle, and Brendan Ryan had four singles. Reigning NL MVP Albert Pujols - who came in hitless in his previous 15 at-bats - had a single in four trips to the plate.

"It was big for our offense, we've been struggling," Ankiel said. "To come out there and keep it going the whole game. It wasn't just one inning. Every inning we came out there and pounded it out, a knock here and there, and scored a bunch of runs."

With a win in this contest, St. Louis will be undefeated in 11 consecutive series against the Marlins since losing two of three Aug. 5-7, 2003. The Cardinals are 9-0-1 in series matchups since, and are 13-5 in road games during that stretch.

The Marlins, though, haven't lost back-to-back games since a four-game slide from May 20-23. They'll also have to bounce back from one of their worst pitching performances.

Although starter Chris Volstad was charged with the loss Wednesday, Florida's bullpen - which came in 13-8 with a 3.91 ERA - gave up seven runs with six earned over 3 1-3 innings. Marlins relievers had pitched five scoreless innings in the previous three games.

Getting a rare series win against the Cardinals could be a lot easier if Jorge Cantu is in the lineup.

The first baseman had two hits Wednesday before leaving with dizziness, and has been suffering through the problem the last few days, according to the Marlins' official Web site, which said he's taking medication for a cholesterol issue.

Cantu is batting .280 with a team-high 43 RBIs, and .353 (12 for 34) in nine games this month.

The Cardinals will hand the ball to Todd Wellemeyer (5-6, 5.32 ERA) to close out the series.

Wellemeyer is trying to avoid losing a third straight start. He's allowed 10 runs in his last two outings and gave up six over seven innings against Colorado on Saturday in 10-1 defeat.

The right-hander was 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA in two starts against the Marlins last season.

Florida (29-32) will go with Andrew Miller (2-2, 4.31), who won for the first time in four starts on Saturday against San Francisco after allowing two runs - one earned - over 5 2-3 innings of a 5-4 victory.

The left-hander has made one start and one relief appearance against the Cardinals. He's given up one run and five hits over the combined seven innings.