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Cardinals try to build off recent win versus Blue Jays

Jun 24, 2011 - 3:11 PM (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Cardinals look to build off a big win over Philadelphia last night when they turn their attention to the Toronto Blue Jays Friday in the opener of a three-game interleague series at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis avoided a three-game sweep with Thursday's 12-2 bashing of the Phillies and scored more runs in the game than it had over the previous three. Cardinals veteran starter and 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter posted his second win of the season (2-7) with seven innings of one-run ball and seven strikeouts.

"It's nice to win a ballgame," Carpenter said. "We had some issues the first night [of the series], and then they got their guy going the second night, last night, that threw a great game against us and got us. Tonight was a chance to get a game, get a win and get us back on track to go into the weekend. Fortunately I pitched well enough and we got some really nice hits, some key hits, and then late in the game broke it open. It was nice."

Lance Berkman capped a six-run eighth inning with a three-run homer, while Matt Holliday, Jon Jay, Ryan Theriot and Tony Cruz each knocked in two runs for the Cardinals, who have won three of five games since a seven-game slide and are tied with Milwaukee atop the NL Central standings. Cincinnati is just two games off the pace.

The Cardinals are 3-3 so far on a nine-game homestand and will hand the ball to Jake Westbrook tonight. Westbrook is 0-1 in his previous two starts since posting four winning decisions in a row and last took the hill in a 5-4 win over Kansas City last Saturday. He allowed four runs for the second straight outing and eight hits through seven frames.

Westbrook is 6-4 in 15 starts to go along with a 5.16 ERA and will face the Blue Jays for the 11th time in his career. The right-hander is 3-2 with a 4.54 ERA in 10 career games (8 starts) in this matchup.

Toronto has lost four in row -- all on the road -- since winning two straight and four of five games, and was swept in three games at Atlanta. In Wednesday's 5-1 loss to the Braves in the series finale, Jays starter Jo-Jo Reyes was hit for four runs in 5 1/3 innings to absorb the loss.

Jose Bautista belted his major league-leading 22nd home run of the season to account for the scoring for the Blue Jays. Toronto scored only two runs during its series in Dixie and has produced just three in the past four games.

"I don't think anybody is panicking or worrying about us not scoring runs the past four games," said Bautista on the club's site. "You go through periods. This is just one of them. We ran into some good pitching."

Drawing the start for Toronto tonight will be Brandon Morrow, who ended a lengthy winless drought the last time on the hill. Morrow was 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in five starts until he tossed 6 2/3 shutout innings in a 4-0 win at Cincinnati last Saturday. Morrow struck out six and walked one batter.

The righty lifted his 2011 mark to 3-4 in 11 starts and lowered his ERA to 5.02 in the process. Morrow defeated the Cardinals the only time he faced them in a 5-0 win at Rogers Centre last June 24 with eight scoreless innings and eight K's.

St. Louis took two of three meetings in that series from June 22-24. The Blue Jays won a three-game series up north during the 2005 campaign after St. Louis swept a three-game set in 2003 at Busch Stadium.