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Ramirez, Dodgers visit Cardinals

Aug 5, 2008 - 1:32 PM LA Dodgers (56-55) at St. Louis (62-52) 8:15 p.m. EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- After just three games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez has already made his presence felt.

Ramirez looks to continue swinging a hot bat when the Dodgers visit the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game set on Tuesday.

A future Hall of Famer, Ramirez is batting .615 (8-for-13) with the Dodgers. The slugger blasted two home runs and drove in five over the weekend as Los Angeles gained a split of its four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The power supplied by Ramirez is much-needed for the Dodgers, who rank near the bottom of the league in home runs and in runs scored.

Chad Billingsley (11-9, 3.05 ERA) hopes to benefit from extra run support when he takes the mound for Los Angeles.

The righthander is coming off his best outing of the season, in which he threw his first career shutout on July 30. Billingsley allowed just five hits and struck out eight during the Dodgers' 4-0 victory against the San Francisco Giants.

The Cardinals will counter with Chris Carpenter (0-0, 2.25), who had an encouraging first start on Wednesday.

Making his return from reconstructive elbow surgery, the former Cy Young Award winner gave up one run and five hits over four innings against Atlanta.