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Wolf tries to slow down Cards' bats

May 6, 2011 - 2:47 PM (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Cardinals have two of baseball's hottest hitters right now in Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday. The Milwaukee Brewers may just have the antidote to cool both of them off in starter Randy Wolf.

Wolf and the Brewers will look to do just that tonight and snap a season-worst six-game slide in the opener of a three-game series with the Cards at Busch Stadium.

Berkman comes into this game leading the majors with 32 runs batted in. He is hitting .480 (24-for-50) over his past 15 games with four homers and 19 RBI, connecting on a three-run homer and driving in a total of four runs in Thursday's 6-3 victory over Florida.

Holliday, meanwhile, extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games, a span in which he is batting .422 (19-for-45) with a pair of homers and 12 RBI, while Albert Pujols went 3-for-3 to help St. Louis win for the sixth time in nine games.

"The character of this ballclub is outstanding. We've shown it already in the first month, and I don't think anything is going to change ... We have an opportunity to have a very special team," said Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa.

Wolf may not be as impressed. Though he is just 5-6 with a 3.41 earned run average in 14 career meetings with the Cardinals, he has handled Berkman and Holliday well. Berkman is just 3-for-27 (.111) against him with an RBI and six strikeouts, while Holliday is 6-for-27 (.222) with a homer, seven RBI and six punchouts.

Pujols, though is 9-for-29 (.310) with two homers and eight RBI versus Wolf, who has put his slow start to the season far behind him as he seeks a fourth straight victory this evening.

Wolf is 3-0 over his last four starts, giving up just two runs and striking out 23 over that 27 2/3-inning span. He has also kept the ball in the yard, giving up just one home run in his last four starts after getting touched for four in his first two starts, both losses.

The 34-year-old lefty did not factor into the decision of his last start versus Houston on Saturday even though he gave up just a run on four hits over seven innings of his team's 2-1 loss. He is now 3-2 with a 2.39 ERA in six starts this season.

He'll try to play stopper for the Brewers after their losing streak reached six straight with Thursday's 2-1 loss to Atlanta. Starter Shaun Marcum tried to keep his club in the game with seven solid innings of one-run ball, but Kameron Loe served up a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning.

"Everybody's spirit is up," Marcum said. "We realize we have a lot baseball ahead of us. We know we're a lot better than what we're playing. It's going to turn around eventually."

Milwaukee has scored more than two runs in just one of its six straight losses while getting shut out twice.

Prince Fielder is 0-for-7 over his last two games and remains stuck at 199 career homers. He is 4-for-16 (.250) without a homer in his career versus tonight's starter for the Cards, Jamie Garcia.

Though he remains undefeated on the season, Garcia has had his troubles over his last two starts and the Brewers will look to take advantage tonight.

Garcia went 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA through his first four starts, but hasn't gotten a decision in his last two. He was charged with four runs -- three earned -- on six hits with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings versus Houston on April 26, then posted a similar line at Atlanta five days later: Four runs -- three earned -- on five hits and six strikeouts in six-plus frames.

"I felt really good today," Garcia, whose ERA rose to 2.48, said after facing the Braves. "I was able to keep the ball down the first couple of innings. I was doing a really good job of that. In that (fifth) inning where I got hurt, I threw a couple pitches up and got hurt. It's part of the game."

The 24-year-old southpaw has split four career decisions against the Brewers while pitching to a 3.90 ERA in six appearances, five of those starts.

He won't have to face Milwaukee's Nyjer Morgan, who suffered a broken left middle finger on a bunt attempt in Thursday's game and is expected to miss 2- to-4 weeks of action.

The Brewers have won four of their past five versus the Cardinals.