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Young hopes for strong return for Padres

Aug 9, 2007 - 2:40 PM San Diego (61-52) at St Louis (52-59) 8:10 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Chris Young makes his return from the disabled list on Thursday when the San Diego Padres look to split a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Young (9-3, 1.82 ERA), who is riding a 12-game unbeaten streak, will be making his first start after being sidelined on July 24 with a strained left oblique. One big reason he is the majors' ERA leader is because he has held the opposition scoreless in seven of his last 10 starts.

Before leaving his last outing due to the injury, the righthander tossed two hitless frames in a 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. He will look to record his first win against St. Louis in his third start vs. them despite carrying a 1.46 ERA.

It may be a tall order for the Cardinals to mount any kind of substantial offense, considering the pitcher and their recent struggles, as St. Louis has scored three runs or less in six of its last eight games. Wednesday's 2-1 win was just the second time in 37 games St. Louis won in which it scored fewer than three runs.

It was the Cardinals second one-run win since the All-Star break. In their previous 11 victories since the midsummer classic, they had outscored the opposition, 80-32.

Joel Pineiro (0-1, 7.20) will make his second start of the season since joining St. Louis in a deadline trade from the Boston Red Sox. In his first outing with his new team, the righthander surrendered five runs - four earned - in five innings in Sunday's 12-1 setback against the Washington Nationals.

Pineiro has enjoyed some success in his four previous career starts against the Padres, going 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA.