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Cardinals after seventh straight home win

Apr 16, 2008 - 1:14 PM Milwaukee (8-5) at St Louis (10-4) 8:15 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) - The St. Louis Cardinals hope to match their longest home winning streak in nearly three years on Wednesday when they host the Milwaukee Brewers in the second game of a three-game set.

In 2007, St. Louis appeared listless in defense of its World Series title, failing to record its 11th win until May 4 - game No. 27. In fact, the Cardinals managed only two winning months - July and August - and missed the playoff for the first time in four seasons.

This season, St. Louis has surged early and will claim their 11th win with another victory at Busch Stadium on Wednesday.

Since dropping their season opener on April 1 to Colorado, the Cardinals have reeled off six straight at home - their longest home winning streak since a seven-game stretch from May 11-28, 2005.

That home dominance was on display once again on Tuesday when Adam Kennedy had three hits and scored twice in the Cardinals' 6-1 win over the Brewers in the series opener.

Adam Wainwright (1-1, 3.60 ERA) hopes to extend the success at home when he takes the mound. The righthander will be looking to rebound from a poor outing in Thursday's 5-1 loss at San Francisco in which he permitted four runs and eight hits over seven frames.

Working in Wainwright's favor is a strong history against the Brewers, as he is 1-1 with a 2.14 ERA in nine lifetime appearances, including two starts.

His counterpart will be Carlos Villanueva (1-1, 4.76 ERA), who also did not fare well in his last turn. The lefthander surrendered four hits and seven hits with three walks over six frames in a 4-1 home loss to Cincinnati on Thursday.

In eight career appearances - three starts - against the Cardinals, Villanueva is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA.