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Cardinals-Cubs Preview

Jul 11, 2009 - 12:12 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

St. Louis (47-40) at Chicago (41-41), 4:10 p.m. EDT

After opening this decade with six division titles in seven years, the St. Louis Cardinals watched the Chicago Cubs win the past two NL Central crowns.

The Cardinals look like they're ready to put an end to the Cubs' brief run.

Following an impressive win in the opener of a key four-game series at Wrigley Field, first-place St. Louis seeks its eighth victory in 10 games Saturday against the slumping Cubs.

The Cardinals finished 11 1/2 games in back of Chicago in 2008, but are quickly creating some distance in the Central during a season-high 10-game swing.

St. Louis was percentage points behind Milwaukee when this trip started in Cincinnati on July 3. After taking four of six from the Reds and Brewers, the Cardinals defeated the Cubs 8-3 on Friday.

Albert Pujols hit his major league-leading 32nd homer and drove in two runs to help St. Louis (48-40) improve to 7-3 against the Cubs this season.

"That's how you want to start a series," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

St. Louis' struggles against Chicago the past two seasons were a big reason why the club fell short in the division race. The Cards were 11-20 versus their archrivals in that span.

Along with Pujols, who will be participating in his eighth All-Star Game on Tuesday in St. Louis, Ryan Ludwick has also been instrumental to Cardinals' recent surge.

Ludwick had three hits and four RBIs Friday, and has driven in 10 runs in the last four games. The Cards have opened July with seven victories in nine games after losing six of their final seven games in June.

Chicago (41-42), meanwhile, has lost three in a row to drop 4 1/2 games back of St. Louis. The Cubs' offense has struggled during the skid, plating only five runs while going 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position.

"We didn't play well," first baseman Derrek Lee said. "It was a little disappointing, knowing the importance of this series. ... Just like that, you're 4 1/2 back. It's dangerous territory."

Lee provided all of Chicago's offense in the opener with a three-run homer in the third inning. Lee has six home runs and 17 RBIs in nine games this month.

He's 3 for 6 with two solo homers lifetime versus Brad Thompson (2-5, 4.92 ERA), who will make his first career start versus the Cubs.

This also will likely be the right-hander's final start for a while with Kyle Lohse expected to return from the disabled list Sunday.

Thompson allowed five runs and nine hits - including two home runs - in five innings of a 5-2 loss at Cincinnati on Saturday, and has yielded 14 runs over 16 innings in losing his last three starts.

The Cubs counter with Ted Lilly (8-6, 3.32), the team's lone All-Star representative.

Lilly has been at his best at home, going 5-1 with a 1.96 ERA in eight starts, and the Cubs winning his last six outings. On Sunday, the left-hander gave up two runs and nine hits with nine strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings of an 8-2 home win over Milwaukee.

This will be Lilly's first start of the season against the Cardinals at Wrigley. He gave up three runs and four hits in seven innings of a 3-0 loss at St. Louis on May 19.