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Cardinals aim for series win against division rival

Jul 1, 2007 - 2:04 PM St. Louis (35-42) at Cincinnati (31-50) 1:15 pm EDT

CINCINNATI (Ticker) - Needing a win for their confidence as much to stay in the division race, the St. Louis Cardinals look to take two of three games from the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday at Great American Ball Park.

St. Louis already trails National League Central Division leader Milwaukee by 10 1/2 games. The Cardinals, who have had trouble with consistent offense all season, appeared to be finding their legs against the American League after recently moving out of last place in the National League in runs scored.

However, they have struggled to score once again over their eight games against the NL, posting one or fewer runs in five of eight games. In the Reds, they meet the team with the worst record and the third-worst home ERA in the majors.

Mike Maroth (0-0, 1.23 ERA) looks to build off a strong NL debut following his acquisition via trade from Detroit on June 22. On Monday, he permitted one run and a season-low two hits over 7 1/3 innings against the New York Mets, but fell victim to one of the Cardinals' weak scoring efforts, losing 2-1 in 11 innings.

The lefthander will be making his first start against the Reds. He is, however, 5-0 on the road this season - all with the Tigers - with a 4.73 ERA.

Cincinnati will respond with rookie Homer Bailey (2-1, 6.41), who will try to forget his first major league loss on Tuesday in an 11-4 defeat versus Philadelphia, as he surrendered six runs and six hits over just 1 2/3 innings. It was the first time in four major league starts that he failed to last five innings.

This will be the righthander's first lifetime outing against the Cardinals.