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Reds, Cards renew hostilities in St. Louis

Jul 4, 2011 - 2:48 PM (Sports Network) - A pair of National League Central contenders renew their rivalry tonight in the Gateway City, as the St. Louis Cardinals begin a three- game series with the Cincinnati Reds from Busch Stadium.

St. Louis looks to get back into the win column after losing the last two matchups of a three-game series at Tampa Bay over the weekend. In Sunday's 8-3 setback in the series finale at Tropicana Field, Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse was dealt the loss for allowing five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

"It wasn't the sharpest I've been," Lohse said. "This team seemed like they had a pretty good approach, kind of waited out my changeup and jumped on some fastballs that I left up -- overall, wasn't very good."

Lance Berkman belted a two-run homer and Yadier Molina cracked a solo shot for the Cardinals, who had won four in a row before losing two straight and are tied with Milwaukee atop the NL Central standings. Pittsburgh is 1 1/2 games behind and Cincinnati sits two games off the pace.

Berkman has homered in two straight and three of his last four games for a St. Louis club that will begin a seven-game residency tonight with the Reds and Diamondbacks. Arizona will visit Busch Stadium for four games.

Chris Carpenter aims for his third straight win when he takes the mound for the Cardinals this evening. He threw seven innings of one-run ball in a 12-2 triumph over Philadelphia on June 23, then went the distance in a 5-1 victory at Baltimore last Wednesday. He struck out five Orioles and issued just one walk for a third consecutive start, lifting his record to 3-7 in 17 starts to go along with a 4.00 ERA.

The right-hander and former NL Cy Young Award honoree lost to Cincinnati in a 9-7 defeat on May 15 this season and is 12-4 with a 2.42 ERA in 20 career starts against the Reds.

Cincinnati will commence a seven-game road trip Monday against the Cardinals and Brewers, and salvaged the finale of a three-game series versus Cleveland with Sunday's 7-5 victory over the Indians at Great American Ball Park.

Chris Heisey and Edgar Renteria both homered, while Fred Lewis collected a pair of hits and two RBI for the Reds, who have split their last 10 games and received a subpar outing from winning starter Mike Leake. Leake lasted six innings on the hill and allowed four runs with eight strikeouts.

"I don't know how many guys we left on base, but going into the break we want to get as many wins as we can, because we don't want to be out of it right when the All-Star break comes," Lewis said after the game.

Francisco Cordero came on in the ninth to nail down his 17th save.

The Reds will hand the ball to Johnny Cueto tonight and he's 3-0 with a 1.26 earned run average in his last four starts. He did not figure into the decision of last Tuesday's 4-3 loss at Tampa Bay and allowed three runs through 7 2/3 innings of work.

Cueto is 5-2 in 10 starts with a 1.84 ERA and defeated St. Louis on May 14, hurling 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball in a 7-3 triumph. The right-hander owns a 4-3 record in 10 career starts against the Cardinals and is 3-1 in six outings as the visitor this season.

The Reds have taken four of the first six matchups with St. Louis this season after losing 12 of 18 meetings a year ago. The Cardinals have won eight of the last 11 encounters with Cincinnati at Busch Stadium.