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Athletics-Cardinals Preview

Jun 18, 2010 - 12:02 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Oakland (33-34) at St. Louis (36-30), 8:15 p.m. EDT

Matt Holliday helped spark the St. Louis Cardinals to the NL Central title after he was acquired from the Oakland Athletics last year, but he has been unable to duplicate that level of production this season.

The slugger will try to get on track during a three-game series against the A's that begins Friday night at Busch Stadium.

Holliday batted .353 with 13 homers and 55 RBIs in 63 games after being obtained July 24, but after signing a seven-year contract in the offseason, he has endured a subpar year. He is batting .284 with six home runs and 25 RBIs during an up-and-down season, and has gone 5 for 33 (.152) over the last nine games.

Holliday has struggled throughout 2010 with runners in scoring position, hitting .189 and going hitless in his last 10 opportunities. The left fielder batted .321 in those situations with the Cardinals last season.

Manager Tony La Russa has moved Holliday from fourth to third and now to second in the lineup, but production hasn't followed.

"The team was made up with Holliday hitting fourth, not third, not second," La Russa said. "(Holliday hitting second) has a chance to be productive, whereas the other one had very little chance."

The former A's manager is 5-1 versus his former team in interleague play. Chris Carpenter (7-1, 2.66 ERA) could help La Russa improve that record Friday.

The right-hander has gone 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA over his last six starts. He posted a 2.08 ERA in his most recent two outings, both Cardinals losses, as St. Louis (36-30) provided him with two runs of support.

Carpenter, 1-3 with a 5.53 ERA in seven starts against the A's, will face them for the first time since Aug. 13, 2002. He'll be taking on an Oakland team that has dropped 12 of 18 overall and seven of nine on the road this month.

The A's (33-35) lost two of three to the Chicago Cubs in their last series, falling 3-2 in the finale Thursday.

Vin Mazzaro (2-1, 4.81) will try to help Oakland avoid a third straight defeat as he makes his first start against the Cardinals looking to bounce back from his first loss.

The right-hander gave up four runs and six hits - two homers - over a season-high six innings of a 6-2 defeat to San Francisco on Sunday.

"He made some mistakes, and they hit them," manager Bob Geren told the A's website. "But I thought he threw the ball extremely well. I like what I've seen from him. He'll be staying in the rotation."

The A's were swept in three games during their previous trip to St. Louis on June 15-17, 2004.