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Braves-Cardinals Preview

Sep 13, 2009 - 3:00 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Atlanta (73-68) at St. Louis (84-58), 2:15 p.m. EDT

It's been almost two months since the St. Louis Cardinals were swept in a series. The NL Central leaders have the right guy on the mound, however, to help prevent that from happening again.

Chris Carpenter looks for his 12th straight victory as the Cardinals try to avoid losing three in a row and being swept by the visiting Atlanta Braves on Sunday.

Closing in on its first postseason appearance since winning the World Series in 2006, St. Louis (84-59) is 33-13 since last losing three straight and being swept at Houston from July 20-22.

The Cardinals, who lost 1-0 to Atlanta on Friday and 7-6 on Saturday, haven't been swept at home since Colorado did it in a four-game set from June 5-8.

Having a Cy Young Award candidate like Carpenter (16-3, 2.16 ERA) on the mound gives the Cardinals a good chance to halt their skid.

The right-hander continued his stellar season by throwing a one-hitter and matching a season high with 10 strikeouts in a 3-0 win at Milwaukee on Monday. Carpenter is 11-0 with a 1.97 ERA in 13 starts since losing to San Francisco on June 30.

Despite his gaudy statistics - he's the major league ERA leader and only teammate Adam Wainwright has more wins (18) - the 34-year-old Carpenter is not thinking about winning another Cy Young Award.

"It's the least of my concerns," said Carpenter, who won it in 2005 with a 21-5 record. "I've won one before. It's super awesome and fun and nice, but I'd much rather get to the playoffs and pitch in the World Series."

Carpenter can focus on containing the Braves (74-68), who have won three in a row and are seven games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East. He's 2-1 with a 5.46 ERA in six starts against Atlanta.

Brian McCann's two-run double off closer Ryan Franklin in the ninth lifted the Braves to Saturday's victory after St. Louis rallied with two runs in the eighth to take a one-run lead.

Franklin, who has 37 saves during his All-Star season, has blown two in a row and four in 2009.

"That's a good one, you bet," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "You can never get down. Franklin's done an unbelievable job but like I tell my guys, anything can happen."

McCann, who finished with three hits, is 8 for 13 in his last three games after a 1-for-25 slump. He's 2 for 7 with a homer against Carpenter.

Brendan Ryan and Colby Rasmus each had two hits with an RBI for the Cardinals. Albert Pujols singled after going 0 for 4 on Friday. Pujols is batting .412 with a home run against Atlanta's scheduled starter, Javier Vazquez.

Vazquez (12-9, 3.06) tries for a third straight win after allowing three hits and striking out nine in seven scoreless innings to earn the victory in a 2-1 win at Houston on Tuesday.

Atlanta has scored three runs or fewer in 13 games Vazquez has started and lost 10 of those contests.

"He could have 18 (wins)," Cox said of Vazquez, who has not allowed a run in two of his last three starts. "He could be right on for Cy Young. He never gets talked about, but with any luck at all, he'd be right there with 'em."

The right-hander, however, is 2-7 with a 4.21 ERA in 10 starts against St. Louis. Vazquez allowed five runs and struck out eight in eight innings of a 5-3 loss to the Cardinals on April 29.