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Cardinals-Astros Preview

Sep 22, 2009 - 4:21 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

St. Louis (87-63) at Houston (70-79), 8:05 p.m. EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals won't have to wait much longer to wrap up the NL Central. The Houston Astros, long out of the division race, decided to make a big move before beginning an offseason filled with questions.

One day after firing manager Cecil Cooper, the Astros will hope for better results Tuesday in their second game under interim manager Dave Clark as they continue a three-game set with the visiting Cardinals, who look to reduce their magic number to two.

St. Louis (88-63) has been alone in first place since Aug. 7, and with no one other than the Chicago Cubs within 10 games of manager Tony La Russa's team, the past few weeks have been little more than a coronation for the team's first division title since 2006.

Houston (70-80), meanwhile, is two losses away from only its third losing season since 1991, and Monday decided it had seen enough from Cooper. After seven consecutive losses, general manager Ed Wade said the change couldn't wait until the end of the season, replacing Cooper - the team's manager since Aug. 27, 2007 - with Clark.

"We're tasked with evaluating all aspects of our situation," Wade said. "At the end of the day, we're going to try to address those off-field issues that exist. We're not walking away from it. The issue we had to address here, in the short term, was the managerial issue and that's why we moved forward today."

With his team armed with a $103 million payroll, Cooper predicted the Astros would win 90 games before the season. Instead, they could be headed for 90 losses for the first time since the 1991 team went 65-97.

Clark's debut didn't go any better than the past seven games under Cooper. Mark DeRosa homered twice among St. Louis' 15 hits and Wandy Rodriguez had his worst home start since early June in a 7-3 Houston loss.

"I expected to win, but it's been a pretty hectic day," Clark said. "This is bittersweet, but I enjoyed what I was doing and I look forward to the last 12 days."

The Cardinals' third victory in four games, meanwhile, reduced their magic number to three.

If the Astros are to avoid their first nine-game slide since they dropped 10 in a row from May 20-30, 2007, they'll need to figure out a way to score some runs. Houston has totaled 18 runs during its eight-game losing streak despite hitting 11 homers.

Joel Pineiro (14-11, 3.31 ERA) will try to keep the Astros in their offensive funk while looking to join teammates Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter with 15 wins. The last trio to record 15 victories apiece for St. Louis came in 2005, when Carpenter, Jeff Suppan and Mark Mulder combined for 53 wins.

Pineiro, though, is 0-2 with a 4.42 ERA in his last three outings after going 8-0 with a 2.87 ERA from July 3-Sept. 1. He gave up four runs and 10 hits over 5 1-3 innings Wednesday in a 5-2 loss to Florida.

"I feel the same," Pineiro told the Cardinals' official Web site. "I feel strong. I feel the same as I did a month and a half ago. It's just fine-tuning things here and there so (I'm OK) when it comes to really big games."

Pineiro is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA against the Astros this year, winning both starts at home. Houston's Carlos Lee, four RBIs away from his fourth straight 100-RBI season, is a .448 career hitter against the right-hander.

Pineiro will be opposed by Yorman Bazardo (0-1, 8.50), who's 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA in three starts. Bazardo, who's never faced the Cardinals, gave up four runs and seven hits over five innings Wednesday at Cincinnati, leaving without a decision in a 6-5 loss.