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Dodgers-Cardinals Preview

Jul 28, 2009 - 5:44 AM By DAN PIERINGER STATS Writer

Los Angeles (62-36) at St. Louis (53-48), 8:15 p.m. EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals' acquisition of Matt Holliday over the weekend already has paid dividends. Adam Wainwright hopes to reap some of the rewards as he tries to pull into a tie for the major league lead in wins.

Holliday looks to continue his hot start with his new club as Wainwright goes for his 12th victory Tuesday night when he faces the Los Angeles Dodgers, in danger of suffering their first three-game losing streak of the season.

Acquired in a trade with Oakland on Friday, Holliday has driven in a run in each of his first four games with St. Louis. He's gone 8 for 14 (.571) with five doubles, three walks and three runs scored, and the Cardinals (54-48) have gone 2-2.

Holliday received a standing ovation that lasted about a half-minute before his first home at-bat with the Cardinals on Monday night. He followed with a liner to deep center field that made him the first St. Louis player to double in his first four games in statistics dating to 1954. The drive scored fellow midseason acquisition Mark DeRosa, and the Cardinals went on to beat the Dodgers 6-1.

"The fans here are the best in baseball, so I wasn't surprised," Holliday said of the warm reception. "You just try to get in there and concentrate on having a good at-bat."

Holliday hopes to have a few more good at-bats in support of Wainwright (11-6, 2.95 ERA), who could pull into a tie with Colorado's Jason Marquis and San Francisco's Matt Cain with his 12th victory. Marquis also pitches Tuesday night.

Wainwright had a 4.35 ERA through his first seven starts of the season, but the right-hander has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the majors since a slight adjustment in his mechanics. He has 11 quality starts in his last 14 outings and a 1.59 ERA over his last six.

"A couple of inches in the big leagues is a big deal," Wainwright told the Cardinals' official Web site. "The results have been there, and the main thing is I have been able to repeat it, repeat my delivery and my arm slot, and the way I was throwing before, I was never able to do that. I feel very good."

Wainwright recorded his first complete game of the season in a 4-1 win over Washington on Thursday. That game went only six innings before being called because of rain.

Wainwright is 1-2 with a 5.30 ERA in three career starts against the Dodgers, who are 3-15 in St. Louis since the start of the 2004 season. They're 2-9 at four-year-old Busch Stadium.

Los Angeles (62-37), owner of baseball's best record, went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position Monday and 3 for 15 with men on base.

"A base hit here or there makes it different," said manager Joe Torre, whose club hasn't lost more than two consecutive games since an eight-game skid Aug. 22-29 of last season. "We certainly weren't shut down, we just didn't get key hits."

The Dodgers hope to rebound behind Chad Billingsley (10-5, 3.72). The right-hander bounced back from his worst start of the year to hold Cincinnati to two runs while striking out seven in six innings of a 6-2 victory Wednesday.

That was Billingsley's first win in seven starts since June 14. He was 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA during the drought.

In three career starts against the Cardinals, Billingsley is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA. He's allowed one run in 10 innings spanning two starts in St. Louis, both Los Angeles losses.