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Cardinals-Padres Preview

Aug 22, 2009 - 6:09 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

St. Louis (70-54) at San Diego (52-72), 10:05 p.m. EDT

Chris Carpenter is certainly doing his part to help the St. Louis Cardinals pull away from the rest of the pack in the NL Central.

The right-hander looks for a ninth straight win while trying to help the first-place Cardinals bounce back from a rare loss to the San Diego Padres on Saturday night at Petco Park.

After elbow problems limited him to four starts over the last two seasons, Carpenter (13-3, 2.27 ERA) seems to have reverted to the form that paved the way for him to win the NL Cy Young Award in 2005.

Carpenter, who's 8-0 with a 2.12 ERA in nine starts since losing to San Francisco on June 30, allowed two runs and struck out eight in eight innings to earn the win in a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.

The right-hander's success is a big reason why the Cardinals (70-54) have won 17 of their last 23 contests and hold a seven-game lead over the reeling Chicago Cubs in the Central.

"I do know we've got a chance to win every time we come to the ballpark, and that's exciting," said Carpenter, who's struck out 18 and walked one in his last two outings.

Carpenter is 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA in five starts against the Padres, but hasn't faced them since 2006.

San Diego (52-72) won 4-0 on Friday to even this four-game set and snap a nine-game losing streak to St. Louis, which was shut out for the eighth time this season.

"We played a clean game. We really did," said Padres manager Bud Black, whose team was swept in a three-game series last weekend at Busch Stadium.

Nick Hundley hit a three-run homer and four pitchers combined for the third shutout of the season for the last-place Padres, who won for the third time in nine contests. Despite the victory, San Diego has been outscored 28-16 in five games against St. Louis in 2009.

Hundley homered for the fourth time this season, and the first time since going deep against San Francisco's Barry Zito on May 19. He was on the disabled list from June 18-Aug. 12 with a sprained left wrist.

St. Louis star Albert Pujols singled Friday after going 0 for 9 in his previous three games. Though Pujols is batting .317, he's hitting only .211 against the Padres this season.

Pujols is 3 for 8 with a double, however, against San Diego's scheduled starter Kevin Correia (8-9, 4.32).

Correia, who's 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in his last five outings, allowed three hits in six scoreless innings but didn't receive a decision in a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Chicago batters went hitless against him in five at-bats with runners in scoring position.

"(Correia) has shown a knack for getting out of some jams, in the last month or so," Black told the Padres' official Web site.

Facing the Cardinals for the first time this season, Correia is 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA versus St. Louis in his career.