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Cardinals' middle of the order beginning to come around

May 31, 2007 - 2:52 PM St Louis (21-29) at Colorado (25-28) 9:05 pm EDT

DENVER (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals have been waiting for their big bats to wake up all season.

Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds are all starting to hit as the Cardinals prepare to close their four-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Thursday at Coors Field.

Pujols had two hits, including a homer, scored two runs and drove in three in St. Louis' 8-4 win on Wednesday, bringing his batting average to .296. Since dipping to .239 on May 14, Pujols is hitting a robust .436 (24-for-55).

Rolen and Edmonds also are in the midst of offensive resurgences, with Rolen hitting .461 (12-for-26) over his last eight games and Edmonds batting .341 (15-for-44) after dropping to .202 on May 11.

The Rockies had their longest winning streak since September 6-12, 1998 snapped at seven games Wednesday.

The Cardinals will now turn to Brad Thompson (3-1, 4.72). The converted reliever will be making his fifth start in a row.

Thompson picked up a win in his last outing, allowing three runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings against the Washington Nationals on Saturday. The 25-year-old righthander has not been sharp in the rotation, but he has been effective, winning two games despite surrendering 29 hits in just 22 2/3 innings.

Aaron Cook (4-1, 4.11 ERA), fresh off a complete-game win at San Francisco on Saturday, will take the mound for the Rockies. The righthander yielded just one run and five hits against the Giants to earn his fourth win of the season.

Cook failed to earn a win in the month of April, struggling out of the gate due mainly to an offense that provided him with just five runs total in his first four starts. But as the offense has started to click, so has the pitching. Colorado has scored at least six runs in each of Cook's last six outings.