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Cardinals hope Wellemeyer can end their woes vs. Pittsburgh

Aug 20, 2008 - 10:12 AM Pittsburgh (57-69) at St. Louis (70-58) 8:15 pm. EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Todd Wellemeyer appears to be the man to help the St. Louis Cardinals solve the Pittsburgh Pirates. The righthander takes the hill on Wednesday looking to win a third straight start.

St. Louis was held to five hits before Adam Kennedy broke up the shutout with a pinch hit, RBI single in the ninth inning of a 4-1 loss on Tuesday. The Cardinals are 2 1/2 games out of the wild card, but if they are to reach the postseason they will have to improve on their dismal record vs. Pittsburgh.

St. Louis is 7-6 vs. the Pirates. That pales in comparison to their National League Central rivals, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers, who are a combined 16-5 vs. Pittsburgh.

Wellemeyer (10-4, 3.79) looks to help them end their woes vs. Pittsburgh. The 29-year-old Wellemeyer is unbeaten in his last seven starts, and is coming off a dominant showing in which he held the Florida Marlins to three hits in 7 2/3 innings of a 3-0 win on Thursday.

The Pirates have the worst ERA in the National League (5.44), but hand the ball to Jason Davis, who has turned in two good starts since moving into the rotation. Davis, who replaced Yoslan Herrera, has allowed two runs and 10 hits in 13 innings, but is winless in that span.