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Cardinals, Rays resume series at the Trop

Jul 2, 2011 - 2:52 PM

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(Sports Network) - Kyle McClellan goes after his first win in almost a month and a half this evening when the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays continue a three-game set at Tropicana Field.

McClellan opened the year by winning his first five decisions, but has since dropped four of five, including his last three and is winless in his three starts since returning from a stint on the disabled list.

The right-hander's most recent setback came on Sunday against Toronto, as he was pounded for five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings, dropping him to 6-4 on the year to go along with a 4.02 ERA.

"When it came down to it, I didn't make the pitches when I needed to," said McClellan, who will be making his first-ever start against the Rays.

Tampa, meanwhile, will counter with righty Jeff Niemann, who is 2-4 on the year with a 5.58 ERA and is coming off a horrific outing his last time out. Niemann was rocked by the hapless Houston Astros on Sunday for five runs and seven hits in just three innings. He was taken off the hook by his offense and avoided a decision in a wild 14-10 win by his club.

"I couldn't get the ball down in the zone, and the breaking pitches weren't as sharp as the last time out," Niemann said. "It's a bad combo."

St. Louis continued its mastery of the Rays in the opener of this set on Friday, as Colby Rasmus belted a three-run homer in the eighth, helping the Cards to a 5-3 victory.

Jake Westbrook (7-4) allowed two hits and fanned seven batters to snap a three- start winless stretch. Rasmus drove in four runs for the Cardinals, who have won four in a row. Yadier Molina added an RBI single.

"It took me a little while to get into a groove, but in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings I was able to get ahead in the count," Westbrook said. "I guess it worked out for the better. It took me a while to get into that rhythm."

Matt Joyce hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to follow Evan Longoria's RBI double, but the Rays lost for the third time in four tries.

Wade Davis (7-6) yielded six hits and two runs over seven frames and had a three-start winning streak stopped.

The Cardinals have dominated this matchup, winning six of the seven all-time meetings.






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