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Maroth, Cardinals looking to turn season around

Jul 14, 2007 - 1:58 PM St Louis (40-46) at Philadelphia (45-44) 3:55 pm EDT

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals are still hoping to bounce back from a miserable first half.

Mike Maroth looks for his first win in a Cardinals' uniform when the National League Central team squares off against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second of a three-game series Saturday.

The defending World Series champions are just 75-85 since last season's All-Star break and sit in third place in the NL Central, 7 1/2 games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

Maroth (5-3, 4.90 ERA), who was traded from the Detroit Tigers on June 23 to help the Cardinals' injury-plagued rotation, is winless in three starts.

The 29-year-old lefthander gave up four runs - one earned - and five hits with four walks over five innings in a 4-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants on July 6.

He will be opposed by Phillies ace and All-Star Cole Hamels (10-4, 3.72), who snapped a season-long two-start losing streak in his last outing. The 23-year-old lefthander yielded a run and eight hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings of an 8-3 victory over the Houston Astros.

Philadelphia posted its second straight win and third in five games on Friday, belting out 23 hits in a 13-3 triumph over St. Louis. All-Star Chase Utley had four hits and knocked in three runs.

With the win, the Phillies temporarily avoided becoming the first franchise to lose 10,000 games.