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Cardinals-Cubs Preview

Jul 23, 2010 - 11:42 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

St. Louis (54-42) at Chicago (43-53), 1:05 p.m. EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals hitters have been kept quiet since an eight-game win streak. Facing a rejuvenated Tom Gorzelanny might not help them make some noise again.

The Chicago Cubs left-hander will try to win a career-high fourth straight start as the teams continue a three-game series at Wrigley Field on Saturday.

The Cardinals (54-43) outscored opponents 46-17 while winning eight straight but have been held scoreless in 20 consecutive innings since then. They produced one hit in Thursday's 2-0 loss to Philadelphia in 11 innings and had five during Friday's 5-0 series-opening defeat.

It marked the first time St. Louis had been shut out in consecutive games since Sept. 24-25, 1995. The Cardinals haven't been blanked in three straight contests since Oct. 2-3, 1976.

"We got the leadoff man on (five times) but couldn't score," manager Tony La Russa said. "The wind was blowing out for us, too. We have guys who can hit the ball out of the park - and they didn't."

Gorzelanny (5-5, 3.12 ERA) enters this game 3-0 with a 2.38 ERA since returning to the rotation June 30. He outdueled Philadelphia's Roy Halladay on Sunday night to win a career-best third consecutive start and first at home since May 2, giving up three runs and five hits over 6 2-3 innings in the 11-6 victory.

"We didn't hit him. We didn't score any runs until the game was over," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told the Cubs' official website. "Give their pitcher a lot of credit. He did a good job."

Gorzelanny, 2-5 with a 3.66 ERA in his first nine starts this season, hasn't faced the Cardinals since June 2, 2008. He's lost his last three decisions against them, falling to 1-3 with a 3.82 ERA in six career starts.

As it tries to hang onto its NL Central lead, St. Louis will counter with Blake Hawksworth (4-5, 4.85), who will attempt to win his third consecutive start. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.93 ERA in his last three road starts and has benefited from the combined 17 runs his teammates have provided him in those games.

Hawksworth, 3-1 with a 3.95 ERA since rejoining the Cardinals' rotation June 26, has received 25 runs over those five outings. He has never started against the Cubs (44-53) but has a 2.45 ERA in three relief appearances.

Hawksworth will face a Chicago team that has at least 10 hits in five consecutive games and has batted .326 over that span. Geovany Soto homered in his career-best third straight contest Friday and has six of his 14 home runs over his last 10 games while batting .382.

Starlin Castro is hitting .463 (19 for 41) over his past 10 games and singled in his only at-bat against Hawksworth.

St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols, who is hitless in his last 10 at-bats, is 6 for 17 (.353) with three doubles against Gorzelanny.

The Cubs, who trail St. Louis by 10 games, haven't won a series over their rivals since April 16-18, 2009, at Wrigley.

"We can make up a lot of ground," outfielder Alfonso Soriano said after the series opener. "If we sweep them, we get three games. I hope we can play the last two like we played today."