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Diamondbacks-Cardinals Preview

Jun 28, 2010 - 1:47 AM By DAN PIERINGER STATS Editor

Arizona (29-46) at St. Louis (41-33), 8:15 p.m. EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals missed a chance to take over a share of first place in the NL Central. They should have a good shot at claiming the top spot with Chris Carpenter returning to the mound.

Carpenter looks to win his sixth consecutive decision and stay perfect against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis (41-34) lost for the third time in four games Sunday, managing four hits while getting routed 10-3 at Kansas City. The Cardinals remained a half-game behind Cincinnati in the division.

Carpenter (9-1, 2.63 ERA) will try to vault the Cardinals past the Reds by moving to 6-0 in nine starts since his last loss May 13.

St. Louis needed some of Carpenter's best work to get a 1-0 win at Toronto on Wednesday. The right-hander limited the Blue Jays to three hits in eight innings, and Matt Holliday delivered an RBI single in the ninth.

"When you've got Carp, you've got a chance," Holliday said. "You just keep trying to scratch out a couple of runs because, when he's pitching well, they're not going to get much."

Carpenter has gone 4-0 with a 2.36 ERA in 10 games versus the Diamondbacks, but 0-0 with a 4.15 ERA in two outings against them this season.

Arizona's Kelly Johnson is 6 for 12 with a home run and four walks against Carpenter, while Chris Young is 6 for 10 with a homer and two doubles. Justin Upton has gone 0 for 8 with seven strikeouts against the Cardinals ace.

The Diamondbacks (30-46) will counter with Dan Haren (7-6, 4.65), who is in danger of losing three straight starts for the first time since his first three outings of 2009.

The right-hander held the New York Yankees to three runs while striking out eight in seven innings Tuesday, but didn't get a lot of help in a 9-3 loss. He provided most of the offense, driving in two runs and hitting two singles to lift his season average to .452.

"I do all I can," Haren said. "Baseball is a team sport. It's not like golf or something like that. Every guy on the roster needs to contribute. I do my best at the plate. ... I try to put together the best at-bat I can and make the pitcher work and good things have happened because of that."

The Diamondbacks took two of three at Tampa over the weekend, but the lineup still isn't clicking. Arizona totaled six runs in the series and got all its offense in a 2-1 win Sunday on Gerardo Parra's homer in the fifth.

"You come into this place against a good team and get a series win, it's time to get out of town and go onto the next city," manager A.J. Hinch said.

Haren has won each of his four starts against the Cardinals, posting a 3.72 ERA while striking out 33 in 29 innings. He's also 6 for 9 with a double, two RBIs and two walks versus his former team.

Holliday is 6 for 17 with two homers against Haren, while teammate Ryan Ludwick is 5 for 9 with two homers off him.