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Cardinals-Astros Preview

Jul 22, 2009 - 4:50 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

St. Louis (51-44) at Houston (47-46), 8:05 p.m. EDT

The Houston Astros made a surprising push into playoff contention with an impressive second half in 2008, and they're showing signs they may be poised for another run after this season's All-Star break.

Roy Oswalt appears to have begun his turnaround even earlier.

Oswalt has thrown two complete games in his last four starts, and Wednesday night he can pitch the Astros to within a game of first place as Houston looks to complete a three-game sweep of the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros (48-46) went into the 2008 All-Star break at 44-51, but a second-half record of 42-24 - second-best in the majors - allowed them to finish 86-75 and only 3 1/2 games out of the wild-card spot.

Houston was 38-42 on July 4 this season, but had won nine of 13 to pull within three games of St. Louis (51-45) heading into Tuesday's game. The Astros closed the gap further with a big offensive effort, using a grand slam from Carlos Lee and three RBIs from Miguel Tejada to rout the Cardinals 11-6.

"I'm just having opportunities out there to come up with a good hit," said Lee, who's hitting .353 with three homers against St. Louis this season and .333 overall in July. "I've been feeling good. I started feeling real good the whole (month of) July and been hitting the balls hard everywhere. I guess it's all starting to fall."

One of the biggest reasons for Houston's second-half improvement last season was Oswalt, who went 11-2 with a 2.17 ERA over his final 15 starts.

Oswalt (6-4, 3.65 ERA) looks primed for another great finish. The three-time All-Star is 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in four starts since June 29, finishing two games while limiting opposing hitters to a .132 average.

His latest effort was perhaps his most impressive. Oswalt held the Los Angeles Dodgers - owners of baseball's best record - to four hits in his latest complete game, striking out five Friday in an 8-1 win.

"It's probably the strongest performance I've seen in a while from Roy, and I thought his stuff was outstanding," manager Cecil Cooper told the Astros' official Web site. "... He really was in no trouble at all."

All of Oswalt's wins, however, have come against the NL West. He's 6-0 with a 2.25 ERA against that division, and 0-4 with a 4.61 ERA against the rest of baseball.

Oswalt is 9-7 with a 3.11 ERA in his career versus St. Louis, but gave up six runs and nine hits over six innings in an 11-2 loss at Busch Stadium on April 11.

That defeat included a grand slam from Albert Pujols, who's a .315 (23 for 73) hitter with five career homers against Oswalt.

St. Louis right-hander Chris Carpenter (8-3, 2.26) has been consistently good all season, and Wednesday he'll be seeking his fourth straight victory. He was outstanding in his last start, blanking Arizona over eight innings Friday while striking out seven in a 6-1 win.

"Carp did a good job," manager Tony La Russa told the Cardinals' official Web site. "I don't think he felt totally in sync, and that just shows you how competitive he is."

Carpenter is 5-3 with a 2.93 ERA in 11 career starts - including four complete games - against Houston, but hasn't faced the Astros since 2006.

The Astros' Lance Berkman has six homers off Carpenter - no player has more - but Carpenter won't have to worry about the first baseman Wednesday. Berkman missed Tuesday's game and will sit out the series finale with a strained left calf.