Colorado @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 31, 2015 ) Colorado 0, St. Louis 7

Matt Carpenter has adjusted nicely to his return to the leadoff position. After belting three homers in the first two contests of the four-game series, Carpenter looks to continue his torrid stretch when the St. Louis Cardinals face the visiting Colorado Rockies on Saturday.

Carpenter is a blistering 6-for-9 with five RBIs and as many runs scored in the series, but his fortunes are decidedly different when facing Saturday starter Jorge De La Rosa - going 0-for-9 with four strikeouts. Kolten Wong, Jason Heyward and Jhonny Peralta have recorded two hits in each of the first two contests of the series for the Cardinals, who have won 16 of their last 19 home games following their 7-0 rout on Friday. Conversely, Colorado has dropped 18 of 23 road contests, although Carlos Gonzalez doesn't seem fazed by the venue. Gonzalez is 18-for-40 with eight homers, 16 RBIs and 14 runs scored in his last 10 contests.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, ROOT (Colorado), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Jorge De La Rosa (6-4, 5.03 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (8-5, 2.71)

De La Rosa allowed six earned runs for the second straight outing on Monday, but walked away with a no-decision both times. The 34-year-old has pitched significantly better versus St. Louis, improving to 7-4 in his career against the club after permitting two runs on three hits in seven innings of a 4-3 win on June 9. De La Rosa has also appeared to be at ease on the road this season, posting a 4-2 mark with a 3.07 ERA while allowing the opposition to bat just .207 against him.

Lynn turned in his third consecutive sterling outing on Monday, improving to 2-0 in that stretch after allowing one run on five hits in seven innings of a 4-1 triumph over Cincinnati. The victory improved Lynn to 6-1 with a 1.77 ERA at Busch Stadium this season. Lynn owns a 2-0 mark with a 1.37 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in four career outings versus Colorado while limiting the Rockies to just a .215 batting average.

WALK-OFFS

1. Colorado 2B DJ LeMahieu has collected four hits in the series and went 36-for-90 (.400) with 18 runs scored in July.

2. St. Louis LF Stephen Piscotty is riding a six-game hitting streak and is 10-for-29 since being promoted from Triple-A Memphis.

3. Rockies SS Jose Reyes is 2-for-11 since being acquired from Toronto in the deal for SS Troy Tulowitzki.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 3, Rockies 1