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Cardinals aim for another win over Diamondbacks

Apr 12, 2011 - 3:09 PM (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Cardinals take aim at their third straight win this evening when they continue their three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

The Cardinals managed to put together back-to-back wins for the first time this season in the opener of this set on Monday, as Lance Berkman blasted two home runs while Jon Jay had a pinch-hit homer in St. Louis' 8-2 win.

Kyle McClellan (1-0) did it from the mound and in the batter's box, where he went six innings and also knocked in two runs for the Cardinals, who salvaged a win in the final game of a series with San Francisco on Sunday. The starting pitcher allowed one run on seven hits with four strikeouts while going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double.

"I've swung the bat well this year," Berkman said.

Justin Upton and Melvin Mora each had a pair of hits for the Diamondbacks, who had won three of four before Monday's setback. Barry Enright (0-1) was tagged with the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits in six innings.

The Cardinals have a great shot at staying in the win column tonight, as they hand the ball to right-hander Chris Carpenter, who has pitched to a 2.08 earned run average through his first two starts, but is still searching for that first win.

Carpenter fell to 0-1 on the young season on Wednesday, despite a terrific outing against Pittsburgh that saw him allow just one earned run in six innings of a 3-1 loss. He also struck out six in that one without walking a batter.

The former NL Cy Young Award winner is a perfect 4-0 lifetime against the Diamondbacks with a 2.54 ERA in 11 games (10 starts).

Arizona, meanwhile, will hand the ball to righty Armando Galarraga, who won his first start against the Chicago Cubs. Galarraga allowed four runs and five hits over seven innings of that one, but picked up the win in his NL debut.

This will be Galarraga's second-ever start against the Cardinals. He received a no-decision the first time he faced them.

St. Louis was 5-4 against the D'Backs last season.