Final/11
Cardinals-Cubs Preview
Jul 24, 2010 - 11:34 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS WriterSt. Louis (54-43) at Chicago (44-53), 8:05 p.m. EDT
It's been four years since the St. Louis Cardinals were swept by the rival Chicago Cubs. They have perhaps the right man heading to the mound to help them avoid that fate Sunday night.
Chris Carpenter will try to earn his third win in as many starts and fourth in a row over the Cubs in the finale of a three-game set at Wrigley Field.
St. Louis (54-44) hasn't gone winless in a road series against Chicago (45-53) since dropping four in a row July 27-30, 2006. The Cardinals also suffered their previous three-game sweep to Cubs that same season - April 7-9 also in Chicago.
To avert a season high-tying fourth straight defeat, St. Louis will turn to Carpenter (11-3, 3.05 ERA), who has rebounded from his two rough outings to begin this month.
The right-hander had an 11.00 ERA in those starts but has a 1.13 mark in his consecutive victories. He allowed one run and five hits over eight innings to earned his latest win, 7-1 over Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
"My delivery was much better tonight, and I will continue to work on it between starts and try to get better," Carpenter told the team's official website.
Carpenter has delivered wins in most of his career outings against the Cubs, going 10-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 18 matchups. He's 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA in his last four starts versus Chicago and 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA in his past four games at Wrigley.
This time, he'll face a Cubs team that's batted .321 and averaged 7.2 runs since putting Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro at the top of the order. Colvin has homered three times since moving to the top spot July 18 and hit his second to lead off a game in Saturday's 6-5 victory. Castro, hitting .489 over his last 11 contests, had a two-run homer among his three hits in the win, the Cubs' fourth in six games.
"He adjusted so quickly," said Colvin of his teammate, who batted .227 in June. "He scuffled a little bit and now he's hitting every ball hard."
Ryan Dempster (8-7, 3.70) will try to benefit from his young teammates' hot hitting to record his third consecutive win and first over the Cardinals since Sept. 21, 2008.
Dempster has a 4.86 ERA during his win streak but has also received a combined 17 runs of support over those three outings. He escaped without a loss Tuesday against Houston as the Cubs rallied from a six-run deficit for a 14-7 victory following manager Lou Piniella's announcement that he would retire at the end of this season.
Dempster allowed seven runs - four earned - over five innings, topping the six runs he gave up to St. Louis in a 9-1 home loss May 30. He's 4-6 with a 4.68 ERA in 16 starts against the Cardinals and 0-2 with a 4.28 ERA in his last five.
The return of outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the disabled list coincided with St. Louis' end to a 21-inning scoreless drought Saturday, but the Cardinals are batting .175 in their last three games after hitting .303 during eight consecutive wins.
- Cubs 3, Cardinals 4 - FINAL
ST LOUIS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
F Lopez 3b 5 1 1 1 1 1 0 .268
R Ludwick rf 5 0 2 0 0 2 2 .276
R Franklin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
vb-R Winn ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .276
K McClellan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
D Reyes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Pujols
Jul 25 11:51 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY FELIPE LOPEZ (6) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT IN THE
11TH OFF BRIAN SCHLITTER.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 4, CHICAGO CUBS 3
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: R FRANKLIN (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Cardinals 4, Cubs 3 Top 11, 0 OutsJul 25 11:36 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY ALBERT PUJOLS (23) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 6TH OFF RYAN DEMPSTER.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 3, CHICAGO CUBS 3
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: M HOLLIDAY (.305, 0-FOR-2)
Cardinals 3, Cubs 3 Top 6, 0 OutsJul 25 9:43 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY STARLIN CASTRO SCORED RYAN THERIOT
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, S CASTRO ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 2
CHICAGO CUBS 3 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: D LEE (.253, 1-FOR-2)
Cardinals 2, Cubs 3 Bot 5, 0 OutsJul 25 9:38 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY RYAN THERIOT SCORED GEOVANY SOTO
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R THERIOT ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 2
CHICAGO CUBS 2 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: R DEMPSTER (.139, 0-FOR-0, SAC)
Cardinals 2, Cubs 2 Bot 5, 0 OutsJul 25 9:32 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MARLON BYRD SCORED DERREK LEE
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M BYRD ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 2
CHICAGO CUBS 1 BOTTOM,4TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: A SORIANO (.265, 0-FOR-1)
Cardinals 2, Cubs 1 Bot 4, 0 OutsJul 25 9:18 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY BRENDAN RYAN SCORED SKIP SCHUMAKER
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, B RYAN ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 2
CHICAGO CUBS 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: F LOPEZ (.268, 0-FOR-1)
Cardinals 2, Cubs 0 Top 2, 0 OutsJul 25 8:37 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY SKIP SCHUMAKER SCORED JON JAY
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, S SCHUMAKER ON FIRST, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 1
CHICAGO CUBS 0 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: Y MOLINA (.235, 4 HR, 38 RBI)
Cardinals 1, Cubs 0 Top 2, 0 OutsJul 25 8:34 PM
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