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Jul 11, 2010 - 3:43 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

St. Louis (46-40) at Houston (35-52), 2:05 p.m. EDT

It took almost three months, but Wandy Rodriguez is finally pitching the way the Houston Astros expected this season.

The left-hander looks to win his fourth straight start as the Astros try to conclude an already successful homestand by adding to the St. Louis Cardinals' road struggles Sunday afternoon.

Tabbed as the team's No. 2 starter behind Roy Oswalt, Rodriguez (6-10, 5.00 ERA) won three times in 14 starts before going 3-0 with an 0.90 ERA during his current streak. He allowed a run, four hits and struck out a season-high 10 in seven innings of a 6-2 win over Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

"We knew that he had the ability to throw like that," Astros manager Brad Mills said. "He's just built good start after good start after good start, and that's what we were looking for, to be able to put it all together."

Mills hopes Rodriguez can continue to pitch well and improve on his 4-10 record and 4.19 ERA in 16 starts versus St. Louis.

Rodriguez, 1-1 with a 6.97 ERA against the Cardinals this season, could have a tough time following Brett Myers' strong performance Saturday. Myers pitched eight innings to help Houston even the set with a 4-1 victory.

The Astros (36-52) are 4-1 on their homestand and 5-3 against St. Louis this season.

The Cardinals (46-41) are 1-4 on their six-game trip and have lost seven of nine away from home. Even with five All-Stars on its roster, St. Louis has lost seven of 10 overall.

Albert Pujols and rookie outfielder Jon Jay each had two of the Cardinals' five hits Saturday. All-Star Matt Holliday is 2 for 12 in his last three games, but he drove in St. Louis' lone run.

"We have a lot of good hitters, so we always feel like we can break through and do something more than one run," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

Pujols is 4 for 8 in the series, but he's a lifetime .222 hitter with one homer against Rodriguez.

Despite the Cardinals' disappointing road trip, Jay is 9 for 16 in his last four games.

Blake Hawksworth (2-5, 4.88) has pitched well enough to earn a fourth straight start Sunday for the Cardinals.

Though the right-hander is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in four starts, he has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last three outings. Hawksworth gave up two runs in five innings and was in line to earn a victory Tuesday until the Cardinals allowed nine ninth-inning runs and fell 12-9 at Colorado.

"If I can locate, get ahead of guys, I hopefully can go deep into ballgames," Hawksworth told the Cardinals' official website.

Though Hawksworth will make his first start versus Houston, he has thrown four scoreless innings of relief against the Astros.

Houston's Jeff Keppinger, who homered Saturday, is 0 for 3 against Hawksworth. Teammate Pedro Feliz drove in two runs in the last game, but he's 1 for 11 in his last five.