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Myers aims to build off solid start as Phillies visit Cards

Aug 3, 2008 - 6:12 AM Philadelphia (60-50) at St. Louis (62-51) 8:05 pm. EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies never lost faith in Brett Myers, now he is trying to reward them for it. Myers aims to win a second straight start on Sunday as the Phillies face the St. Louis Cardinals.

Myers (4-9, 5.46 ERA), who accepted a demotion to the minors after struggling for the first three months, picked up his first win since May 30 on Tuesday. The former closer allowed one unearned run and four hits in seven innings of a 2-1 victory over Washington - his second start since returning from a three-week stint with Class AAA Lehigh.

Myers, who won 14 games in 2003, said it was key that the Phillies kept believing in him.

"If they lose faith in me, I'd probably lose faith in myself. But they've had faith in me all along and I knew I could do it," said Myers, who allowed a major league-leading 24 home runs prior to his demotion on July 1.

He will try and build off a solid start and help Philadelphia to its seventh win in eight games. Joe Blanton threw seven solid innings and Ryan Howard homered as the Phillies posted a 2-1 victory on Saturday. Philadelphia holds a 1 1/2 game lead over Florida (59-52) and a two-game lead over New York (58-52) in the National League East.

St. Louis, which fell five games behind Chicago (66-45) in the NL Central, hands the ball to Todd Wellemeyer (8-4, 4.13). Wellemeyer is 1-3 with a 6.53 ERA in his last eight starts. On Tuesday, he allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings, but did not factor into the decision in a 8-3 win over Atlanta.