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Cardinals pay a visit to Rockies

May 27, 2011 - 3:05 PM (Sports Network) - The National League's best road team begins a three-game stint at Coors Field tonight when the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Colorado Rockies for a holiday weekend series.

The Cardinals took two of three at San Diego and own an NL-leading 16 road wins, but a stellar outing from Mat Latos and a two-run eighth inning allowed the Padres to avoid a sweep with a 3-1 victory on Wednesday at Petco Park.

St. Louis, which had won four straight and eight of nine, wasted a strong effort from Chris Carpenter (1-5). In eight innings, Carpenter allowed three runs on eight hits, while striking out six and walking none.

The Cardinals are first in the NL Central Division, 2 1/2 games up on Milwaukee.

Veteran righty Jake Westbrook returns to Denver for his fourth career meeting with the team that drafted him in the first round (21st overall) in 1996.

He never pitched in the majors for the Rockies, instead breaking in with the New York Yankees in 2000 and spending 2001-2010 with the Cleveland Indians. He arrived in St. Louis midway through last season and won four decisions in 12 starts with the Cardinals.

Westbrook has won his last two starts in May, giving up eight hits and a run across 15 innings against Philadelphia and Kansas City to lower his season earned run average from 6.92 to 5.17.

His ERA was 9.82 through his initial four starts and he has gone 3-1 in six starts since. The Cardinals are 6-4 in the 10 games he's pitched.

On Thursday, Miguel Montero went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, as the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks held off the Rockies, 6-3, in the finale of a four-game series.

Ryan Spilborghs, Jason Giambi and Troy Tulowitzki each drove in a run for the Rockies, who have lost six of seven to drop below .500 at 24-25.

Clayton Mortensen (1-2) allowed four runs on five hits over six full frames to suffer the loss. He also struck out five and walked three.

To open against the Cardinals, Colorado starts right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, a 19-game winner a season ago who's still looking for his initial triumph of 2011.

The 27-year-old Dominican has allowed three runs or less in four of eight starts this season, including an eight-inning stint on May 22 against Milwaukee in which he allowed two hits and two earned runs.

Colorado is 1-7 in eight games he's started.

Last season, in 33 starts, Jimenez was 19-8 and posted a 2.88 ERA in 221 2/3 innings and was 15-1 after a 4-2 win over the Cardinals on July 8.

He got a no-decision in a 1-0 loss to St. Louis on Oct. 2 after allowing three hits in eight scoreless innings with two walks and 10 strikeouts.

The Rockies swept a three-game set at home versus the Cardinals last year, giving them a victory in seven of their past eight versus St. Louis at Coors Field.