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Cardinals-Cubs Preview

May 29, 2010 - 12:45 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

St. Louis (27-21) at Chicago (23-25), 4:10 p.m. EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals' brief hitting slump appears to be over.

Looking for a third consecutive victory, the Cardinals hope for more offensive success while trying to hand Chicago's Carlos Silva his first loss Saturday in the continuation of a weekend set with the rival Cubs at Wrigley Field.

After being held to one run while losing two straight at San Diego, St. Louis (28-21) has scored 15 to win its last two games. The Cardinals scored five times in the first inning and rolled to a 7-1 victory in Friday's opener against the Cubs.

Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina each drove in two runs as the Cardinals opened the game with six straight hits to chase Chicago's Randy Wells after 16 pitches.

"I don't think you could ask for a better scenario," said Ryan Ludwick, who hit a two-run homer in ninth inning.

The Cardinals haven't won three in a row since May 1-3, or a series at Wrigley since April 20-22, 2007. However, with Pujols, Ludwick and Matt Holliday apparently back on track, matching those feats is certainly possible.

After enduring a 3-for-18 stretch with no homers or RBIs, Pujols has five RBIs in his last two games. Ludwick is 6 for 13 with five RBIs in his last three games after going 0 for 12 in the previous three. Holliday went 0 for 9 in the first two at San Diego, but is 4 for 8 in his last two contests.

The Cardinals hope their production continues against Silva (6-0, 3.52 ERA), who's off to the best start of his inconsistent career.

The veteran right-hander is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA versus the Cardinals, but will make his first start against them Saturday.

Silva, who came over from Seattle for the volatile Milton Bradley, allowed three runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 5-4 win at Texas on Sunday to become the first pitcher to begin his Cubs career by winning his first six decisions since Dizzy Dean in 1938.

One reason for his success is the 7.38 average runs of support the Cubs are giving him.

"I've been getting more run support than anyone else," Silva said. "You're a lot more comfortable on the mound. You're not afraid to throw strikes."

In order for that trend to continue, Silva's teammates likely need to improve after scoring two runs in as many games.

Though the Cubs (23-26) are coming off their fourth loss in 12 games, they've averaged a modest 3.6 runs during that span.

Tyler Colvin had a pinch-hit homer Friday, a day after his RBI double was the difference in a 1-0 win over Los Angeles. The rookie outfielder is batting .319 in 42 games this season.

Chicago will get its first look at St. Louis' Adam Ottavino, who is scheduled to make his major league debut in place of the injured Kyle Lohse in this contest.

The right-hander was 4-3 with a 4.17 ERA at Triple-A Memphis, but posted a 2.79 ERA with 22 strikeouts over 29 innings of his last five starts.

"This year my whole goal is to constantly work ahead, try to keep my walks down and I've done that pretty good," Ottavino told the Cardinals' official website.