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Cardinals RHP Wells looks to continue success vs. former team

Sep 3, 2007 - 2:17 PM Pittsburgh (59-77) at St Louis (67-66) 2:15 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) - Kip Wells has struggled all season, except against his former team.

Wells takes the hill as the St. Louis Cardinals aim for their sixth straight home win in the opener of a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.

Rick Ankiel homered and drove in a pair of runs in a 3-2 win over Cincinnati on Sunday. St. Louis, which has won three straight, is over .500 for the first time since April 15. The Cardinals trail second-place Milwaukee by one-half game and the Chicago Cubs by two games in National League Central.

Wells (6-15, 5.50 ERA), who pitched for the Pirates from 2002 - 2006, has lost two straight starts and will be trying to avoid tying the Chicago White Sox's Jose Contreras for the league lead in losses. Wells, who is 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA in two starts against his former team, allowed five runs and nine hits in six innings of a 7-0 loss to Houston on Wednesday.

Ian Snell (8-11, 4.17) takes the hill for Pittsburgh, which has lost five straight. Snell has had a horrible second half of the season with just one win in his last 10 starts. On Wednesday Snell yielded seven runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 8-0 loss to Cincinnati.