• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Cardinals begin final series of season vs. Pirates

Sep 28, 2007 - 2:39 PM St. Louis (75-84) at Pittsburgh (68-91) 7:05 pm EDT

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up their disappointing season as they begin a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.

The defending World Series champions, the Cardinals have been eliminated from postseason contention. However, they played a crucial role in the National League playoff picture after topping the New York Mets, 3-0, on Thursday to dump them into a tie with the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.

Now St. Louis, which has won two straight, will look to wrap up the season on a high note against the Pirates, who are buried in the basement of the NL Central.

Todd Wellemeyer (3-2, 3.28 ERA) will take the mound in the series opener. He did not record a decision in the Cardinals' 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday in which he permitted one hit and a walk with five strikeouts over five scoreless frames.

The righthander is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA in 11 relief appearances vs. the Pirates.

His counterpart on the mound will be Zach Duke (3-8, 5.83), who will be making just his second start since returning from an elbow injury that shelved him for nearly half the season. In his first start back on Saturday, he surrendered five runs - four earned - and nine hits over four innings in a 9-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

The lefthanded Duke is 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA in six career starts against the Cardinals.

Pittsburgh, which is putting the wraps on its 15th consecutive losing season, has dropped 10 of its last 12 games.