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Cards hope to have Pujols back against Reds

Jul 6, 2011 - 2:54 PM (Sports Network) - The return of Albert Pujols was delayed a game, but the St. Louis Cardinals were fine without him.

Pujols was activated off of the disabled list Tuesday, but was a spectator in an 8-1 drubbing of the NL Central-rival Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals will shoot for a three-game sweep this evening at Busch Stadium with Pujols set to return to the lineup. Pujols, a three-time National League MVP and nine-time All-Star, had been on the DL for only 15 days because of a fractured left wrist suffered in a collision at first base versus Kansas City on June 19.

The St. Louis slugger was hitting .279 with 17 homers and 45 RBI in 73 games at the time of his injury and watched two of his teammates give Reds starter Edinson Volquez a hard time. Matt Holliday homered twice and finished with four RBI, while Lance Berkman continued to shine with a solo shot for the Cardinals, who lead the NL Central by 1 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh, two games in front of Milwaukee and four games ahead of the Reds. Berkman homered for the fifth time in six games and has 350 for his career.

Holliday seemed more excited that Pujols will be back in the lineup.

"It's great. I think tomorrow we'll roll out the team that we thought our team would look like for most of the season. It's exciting," said Holliday, who will compete in next week's Home Run Derby as part of the All-Star Game festivities.

Ryan Theriot drove in a pair of runs and starting pitcher Jaime Garcia delivered six innings of one-run ball and four strikeouts for the win (8-3). Lance Lynn tossed two scoreless innings of relief and Mitchell Boggs survived a shaky ninth in which he walked three and fanned two batters for St. Louis, which has won six of eight games and will also host Arizona for four games on the current homestand.

Jake Westbrook tossed six shutout innings in a 3-0 win over Cincinnati on April 24 at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals hope he can do that again when he takes the mound tonight. Westbrook lifted his career mark against the Reds to 2-1 with a 3.13 ERA in six games (5 starts), while he has won five of his last six decisions, including last Friday's 5-3 victory at Tampa Bay in which he hurled seven scoreless frames and fanned seven batters.

Westbrook, a right-hander, is 7-4 with a 4.92 ERA in 17 outings this season, but just 2-2 in eight trips to the Busch Stadium mound.

Cincinnati hopes to avoid the sweep and has lost two straight and four of five games. Volquez didn't do much to help his team on the mound last night, as he was touched for seven runs -- six earned -- and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

"I guess if you miss your location, especially to their big boys over there, its going to hurt you," said Reds manager Dusty Baker.

Scott Rolen brought in the Reds' lone run on a groundout in the fourth inning, while Rolen, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips finished 1-for-14 combined with a run scored and an RBI. Phillips scored on Rolen's groundout. Bruce has gone 0-for-4 in back-to-back games and has one hit over his last six games, going 1-for-22 in that stretch.

The Reds will head to Milwaukee for four games after their stint in the Gateway City and are counting on veteran Bronson Arroyo to bounce back into the win column when he takes center stage tonight. Arroyo had won three straight and four of five starts before losing to Cleveland in Friday's 8-2 setback, as he was rocked for eight runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 frames.

Arroyo fell to 7-7 with a 5.49 ERA in 17 starts and will face St. Louis for the second time this season. In a 6-5 Cincinnati win on May 13, the righty was reached for four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in six innings. He has plenty of experience going against the division-rival Cards and is 7-11 with a 4.57 ERA in 28 career games, 26 of which have been starts. Arroyo has made seven starts on the road in 2011, going 4-1 with a lofty 5.72 ERA.

The Reds and Cardinals have split eight games this season after Cincinnati lost 12 of 18 meetings a year ago. The Cardinals have won 10 of the last 13 encounters with Cincinnati at Busch Stadium.