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Aug 23, 2009 - 6:37 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

St. Louis (71-54) at San Diego (52-73), 4:05 p.m. EDT

John Smoltz insists his career isn't over. The NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals are hoping he's right.

The former ace and onetime elite closer will make his debut for the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon when he takes the mound against the last-place San Diego Padres.

Smoltz went 2-5 with an 8.33 ERA in eight starts for Boston following shoulder surgery that caused him to miss most of 2008. The 42-year-old right-hander's stint with the Red Sox came to an end when he was designated for assignment Aug. 7, one day after a poor performance in a 13-6 loss to the New York Yankees. He allowed eight runs and nine hits, including two homers, with four walks before being pulled with one out in the fourth inning.

"The only thing I can't do is justify the results, but they weren't as bad as they looked," said Smoltz, the 1996 NL Cy Young Award winner and the major league record-holder with 15 playoff wins. "But I felt I was close. I just didn't make the mechanical adjustments physically."

Smoltz cleared waivers Wednesday and promptly signed with the Cardinals (71-54), who were looking for someone to solidify the back of their rotation or act as a setup man to closer Ryan Franklin. The eight-time All-Star was told he'd get two turns in the rotation before the team evaluates his progress.

"The reasonable expectation is you are going to get a nasty guy on the mound who will regain his nastiness," Smoltz said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.

"If I had to come to a team and be perfect the very first or second time, it wasn't going to be a good fit. If the luxury was there to show some patience and give me some innings, then the upside was going to be worth it."

Smoltz debuted with Atlanta in 1988, and spent his entire career there before signing a one-year, $5.5-million deal with Boston. He's 212-152 with a 3.32 ERA and 154 saves, the only pitcher in major league history with 200 wins and 150 saves.

"He's going to do whatever we need the most," manager Tony La Russa said. "It'll be really good for him to come out and stretch out his arm and work on his pitches and let us take a look at him."

Smoltz will try to gain some inspiration from Chris Carpenter's gem in Saturday's 7-0 win at San Diego (53-73). The ace allowed three hits in seven innings to help St. Louis win for the 12th time in 15 games, and the second in the first three of this four-game series at Petco Park.

The Cardinals have now taken 15 of their last 19 meetings with the Padres, including five of six this year.

Smoltz has won his last four starts against San Diego, posting a 0.60 ERA, and hasn't lost to them since Sept. 15, 1999. However, he hasn't faced them at all since May 9, 2007.

The Padres, losers of seven of 10, will give the ball to Cesar Carillo (1-1, 11.88 ERA), a rookie coming off his first career win.

The 25-year-old right-hander allowed three runs in six innings of a 6-3 victory over Chicago on Tuesday. The performance marked a vast improvement for the Padres' 2005 first-round draft pick, who surrendered eight runs and three homers while hitting two batters in 2 1-3 innings during his Aug. 13 major league debut, a 12-9 loss at Milwaukee.

"The first time it was kind of jitters," Carrillo told the Padres' official Web site.