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Cubs-Cardinals Preview

Sep 14, 2010 - 10:03 PM By MATT BROWN STATS Editor

Chicago (63-81) at St. Louis (74-68), 8:15 p.m. EDT

The St. Louis Cardinals' playoff hopes may be fading, but Adam Wainwright's Cy Young candidacy is still burning bright.

Wainwright seeks to become the National League's first 19-game winner when the Cardinals continue their three-game home set against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.

St. Louis (74-68) has won four of the last six NL Central titles, but appears increasingly unlikely to make it five of seven. The Cardinals' 5-1 loss to the Cubs in Monday's series opener was their fifth defeat in seven games, and dropped them seven games behind the division-leading Reds with 20 to play for St. Louis.

The Cardinals had nine hits and five walks Monday against Chicago spot starter Jeff Samardzija and four relievers, but failed to capitalize as they went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12.

"We had the leadoff guy on base four or five times," manager Tony La Russa said. "We had our RBI guys up. We hit a couple balls hard. We had some chances, just couldn't break through."

Poor play against lesser competition is dooming the Cardinals, who are 16-24 against the Cubs, Astros and Brewers. Those three division rivals are a combined 35 games under .500.

Wainwright (18-10, 2.38 ERA) finished third last season behind winner Tim Lincecum and teammate Chris Carpenter in a tight NL Cy Young Award race, but he may be the frontrunner to take home the hardware in 2010. The right-hander is seeking to become the NL's first 19-game winner - Roy Halladay and Ubaldo Jimenez each have 18 wins, and CC Sabathia has 19 in the AL.

With his next win, Wainwright will also match the career high he established last season, when he finished 19-8.

The right-hander had dropped four consecutive starts, but ended that skid in an 11-4 win at Atlanta on Thursday, allowing three runs - all in the first - over eight innings.

Wainwright is 5-0 with a 2.29 ERA in eight starts against the Cubs since the start of 2008, including a 9-1 win at Wrigley Field on May 30 in which he yielded one run over seven innings.

He'll be opposed by Randy Wells (6-13, 4.61), who is 1-6 with a 5.85 ERA over his last nine starts. The right-hander continued to struggle Wednesday, giving up four runs and nine hits over six innings of a 4-0 home loss to Houston.

Wells has faced the Cardinals twice this year at Wrigley, with one of the outings excellent and the other awful. He gave up five runs and did not retire a batter in a 7-1 loss May 28, but threw seven strong innings July 23 in a 5-0 victory.

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols is 1 for 8 with no extra-base hits in his career against Wells, and he won't get to improve on those numbers. The first baseman was held out of the lineup due to soreness in his left elbow.

Pujols, who had a cortisone injection Monday night, is day to day.

Chicago (63-81) is seeking to improve to 4-1 on its nine-game road trip, but got mathematically eliminated from playoff contention Monday when Cincinnati beat Arizona.

"I didn't even know that," interim manager Mike Quade told the Cubs' official website. "We've talked about finishing strong. ... We've been about getting the kids better and playing well down the stretch and so far so good."