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Home cooking: Garcia takes the hill for Cards against D-Backs

Jul 10, 2011 - 2:36 PM (Sports Network) - Albert Pujols' first homer since suffering a fractured left wrist nearly a month ago has to have the Cardinals feeling good about their second half of the season.

Another home start for Jaime Garcia should also have St. Louis feeling good about finishing the first half strong.

Garcia looks to improve on his incredible numbers at Busch Stadium this season as the Cards wrap a four-game series this afternoon with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Arizona won the first two games of this series on the strength of the long ball, but it was a blast from Pujols that helped St. Louis capture last night's meeting. Pujols hit a game-tying two-run homer in the eighth inning and pinch-hitter Tony Cruz drove home the winning run the following frame for a 7-6 victory.

Pujols, who also had an RBI single in the game, launched his 18th homer of the season and first since suffering his injury on June 19. He was activated off the disabled list on Tuesday much earlier than expected.

"We had a good, tough club on the other side, but we stayed after it," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "It was a legitimate comeback."

The Cardinals had lost three straight and five of seven prior to Saturday's win, but pulled into a tie with the Brewers for first place in the National League Central.

St. Louis eyes solo possession of the top spot today with Garcia set to take the hill on his home field. He is 5-1 in eight outings at Busch Stadium this year with a sparkling 0.94 earned run average.

The lefty picked up his second straight victory on Tuesday versus the Reds, allowing a run on two hits and three walks over six innings of an 8-1 home win. It marked his second straight outing of big run support after he yielded five runs over 5 1/3 frames at Baltimore on June 30, but still claimed a 9-6 win.

Garcia, who turned 25 on Friday, is 8-3 with a 3.23 ERA in 18 starts this season. He will face the D-Backs for the second time in his career, besting them on June 11 of last year despite giving up five hits and four walks over five innings. Garcia, though, limited the damage to just one run.

The Diamondbacks hope that Zach Duke has turned a corner, with the southpaw looking to win a second straight start this afternoon.

On Tuesday versus the Brewers, Duke picked up his first victory since throwing seven shutout innings in his Arizona debut on May 28 at Houston. He held Milwaukee to a pair of runs on five hits over seven innings of a 7-3 triumph, improving to 2-3 with a 5.40 ERA in eight starts this season.

"He was working ahead in the count, he got early outs, even when he got behind he made good, quality pitches," catcher Miguel Montero told Arizona's website. "He was pretty good today, man. The sinker was working pretty good and he kept the changeup down."

Both of Duke's victories this year have come on the road and the 28-year-old former Pirate is 4-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 15 starts against the Cardinals.

Arizona had won four of five prior to yesterday's loss, and sit two games behind San Francisco for first place in the NL West. Starter Daniel Hudson lasted just five-plus innings, allowing three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits and three walks. He also contributed at the plate, ripping a two-run single in the second inning that also plated a third run on an error.

"We were just unable to close it out," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. "Give St. Louis credit. They extended [Hudson] very well."

St. Louis won two of three matchups with Arizona from April 11-13 this season and have won seven of the past 13 meetings.