• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Diamondbacks play survival game against Cardinals

Sep 25, 2008 - 10:05 AM Arizona (79-79) at St. Louis (82-76), 2:15pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- It has all come down to this for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After exploding out of the gate with baseball's best record in the first month of the season, they now stand on the brink of elimination. There is no margin for error ... and they'll need more than luck to earn a second straight trip to the playoffs.

With destiny out of their control, the Diamondbacks look to snap a two-game losing streak as they duel the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers (83-75) hold a four-game edge over the Diamondbacks and they have whittled their magic number to one - meaning one Dodgers win or one Diamondbacks loss over the next four days makes it official.

Arizona put some pressure on Los Angeles after winning seven of eight games to pull to within two games on Monday, but back-to-back losses to St. Louis - including Wednesday's 4-2 loss that saw the team strand 11 runners and make two crucial errors that led to three runs - have made things difficult, if not impossible.

With their postseason chances melting, the Diamondbacks give the ball to lefthander Doug Davis (6-8, 4.25 ERA), who has been one of their more reliable assets over the last six weeks. He has given up three runs or less in each of his last seven starts, but has two victories to show for his efforts - and none this month.

Countering for the Cardinals will be righthander Joel Pineiro (6-7, 5.21), who has dropped his last two starts and has a 6.33 ERA since the All-Star break..