Houston @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 11, 2010 ) St. Louis 4, Houston 2
While St. Louis Cardinals had their way with the bottom feeders of their division this past weekend, they know the next rung of the ladder promises to be a bit more of a challenge.
Fresh off a three-game sweep of the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cardinals will host the Houston Astros on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.
St. Louis will send new acquisition Jake Westbrook to the mound as it looks to protect its half-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central.
Westbrook came to the Cardinals from the Cleveland Indians on Saturday in a three-team deal that saw outfielder Ryan Ludwick shipped to the San Diego Padres.
With the Astros having jettisoned ace pitcher Roy Oswalt and longtime star first baseman Lance Berkman at the trade deadline, it appeared Houston would be softened up for the Cardinals.
Think again.
The Astros arrive in St. Louis riding a five-game winning streak that included a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend.
Jason Michaels punctuated the sweep of the Brewers on Sunday, belting a seventh-inning grand slam to help Houston improve to 28-18 in the NL Central. Not too shabby considering the Astros are 14-27 against the rest of the National League and a dismal 3-12 in interleague play.
The Cardinals certainly have reason to be wary of Houston, which has won five of the nine meetings between the clubs this season and swept St. Louis at Busch Stadium from May 11-13. No easy feat considering the Cardinals have a major league-leading 37 home wins.
With the trade of Oswalt, newly minted ace Brett Myers (8-6, 3.10 ERA) gets the start on Monday against the Cardinals.
Myers, who was signed to a two-year contract extension on Sunday, will be facing St. Louis for the fourth time this season. He is 2-1 thus far, allowing just five runs and 17 hits in 21 innings.
Houston’s pitching has been stellar during its winning streak, tossing 31 consecutive shutout innings before the Brewers scored twice in the sixth on Sunday.
One thing the Astros can count on from Myers is innings. The right-hander has gone at least six innings in each of his 21 starts.
Myers is 3-0 in his last five starts and is coming off a dominant effort his last time out, striking out 12 while allowing one run on four hits in a complete-game victory over the Chicago Cubs.
The Cardinals’ big boppers, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, are both batting .368 lifetime against Myers with two home runs apiece. Each player went deep in Sunday’s 9-1 rout of the Pirates.
Westbrook was 6-7 with Cleveland after missing the entire 2009 season due to Tommy John surgery. He dropped three of his last four starts, but they all came against the iron of the American League – the Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees.