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Astros-Cardinals Preview

Aug 27, 2009 - 5:34 AM By DAN PIERINGER STATS Writer

Houston (61-64) at St. Louis (73-54), 2:15 p.m. EDT

Several key midseason acquisitions have helped the St. Louis Cardinals emerge from an unspectacular start to take control of the NL Central. Chris Carpenter's impact on the turnaround, however, can't be discounted.

Carpenter looks to win his 10th straight decision - and seventh consecutive start - as the Cardinals try to complete a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros on Thursday at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis (74-54) traded for Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa in July, and John Smoltz signed with the team last Wednesday. Holliday is batting .386 as a Cardinal, DeRosa is hitting .321 over his last 18 games and Smoltz got a win with five shutout innings in his debut with the team Sunday.

While those contributions have been valuable and Albert Pujols is almost always involved in the Cardinals' success, Carpenter (14-3, 2.16 ERA) may have been the most significant factor in St. Louis' rise to the top of the division. He's 9-0 with a 1.92 ERA over his last 10 starts, going 6-0 with a 1.96 ERA in his last six.

In second place at three games over .500 after Carpenter's last defeat June 30, the Cardinals have gone 33-16 during the right-hander's unbeaten streak to move nine games ahead of second-place Chicago in the Central.

Carpenter held San Diego to three hits in seven innings of a 7-0 victory Saturday. In the NL, only teammate Adam Wainwright has more wins with 15.

"I've seen it before," said Padres second baseman David Eckstein, Carpenter's teammate for three years with St. Louis. "When he's locked in, he's very tough to take good swings off of."

Carpenter is 6-3 with a 2.70 ERA in 13 starts against the Astros. He's 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA against them this year.

Houston first baseman Lance Berkman has hit .300 with six homers and two doubles in 30 at-bats against Carpenter.

Berkman had two hits and an RBI on Wednesday night, but the Astros (61-65) couldn't overcome a three-run first-inning deficit in a 3-2 loss. Houston starter Roy Oswalt hasn't been happy with the club's attitude lately.

"The atmosphere is dead," Oswalt said after Houston's third straight defeat. "When you're dead, you come to the field hoping to get by. The owner pays us money to come play, we've got to play. You can't keep feeling sorry for yourself."

Holliday singled home a run and DeRosa doubled in two more as the Cardinals improved to 7-1 at home against the Astros and moved 20 games over .500 for the first time this year.

"(Twenty games over is) one of the magical numbers if you want to have a chance to play in October," manager Tony La Russa told the Cardinals' official Web site. "We have been talking about it over and over again. We've played ourselves into the race and now we have to work hard every series to get to the finish line."

St. Louis, though, has never beaten Brian Moehler (8-9, 5.29), who will start the finale for Houston. The right-hander is 5-0 with a 3.29 ERA in nine starts against the Cardinals, and his teams are 8-1 in those games. Moehler is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two games against St. Louis this year.

Pujols has hit .474 with three homers, two doubles and four walks lifetime against Moehler. Holliday is 4 for 9 against him.