Colorado @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 1, 2015 ) Colorado 6, St. Louis 2

Although mired in an atrocious stretch on the road, the Colorado Rockies can salvage a split of their four-game series with a win against the host St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. The Rockies had dropped 18 of their previous 23 road contests before banging out 11 hits in Saturday's 6-2 victory.

Ben Paulsen homered and drove in three runs and Nolan Arenado also went deep among his two hits as he attempts to work his way out of a 5-for-36 slump. Arenado is just 11-for-48 (.229) against the Cardinals in his career, but 2-for-3 versus Sunday starter Jaime Garcia. While Colorado snapped a three-game skid by posting just its fourth win in its last 20 visits to Busch Stadium, St. Louis suffered its third loss in five contests. Stephen Piscotty, who had two singles Saturday to extend his hitting streak to seven games, is 12-for-32 since being promoted from Triple-A Memphis.

TV: 2:15 p.m. ET, ROOT (Colorado), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Yohan Flande (1-1, 3.68 ERA) vs. Cardinals LH Jaime Garcia (3-4, 2.00)

Flande made the most of his first start of the season on Tuesday, allowing one run on four hits in five innings to pace Colorado to a 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. The 29-year-old Dominican issued three walks after permitting four free passes in his previous seven appearances. Flande has yet to record a decision in two meetings with St. Louis, striking out the lone batter he faced in one outing after getting ripped for four runs on six hits in five innings of the other.

Garcia pitched well in his return from the disabled list on Tuesday, but allowed Joey Votto's three-run homer in the sixth inning en route to a 4-0 loss to Cincinnati. The 29-year-old has struggled mightily versus Colorado, owning an 0-3 mark with a gaudy 10.53 ERA while allowing the Rockies to bat .362 in the process. Garcia was blitzed for five runs on eight hits - including two homers - in the last meeting.

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis 3B Matt Carpenter is 7-for-13 with three homers, five RBIs and five runs scored in the series.

2. Colorado 2B DJ LeMahieu continues to swing a hot bat, following up a blistering July (36-for-90, .400) by belting a two-run homer among his two hits on Saturday.

3. Cardinals SS Jhonny Peralta is 5-for-12 with two homers, five RBIs and three runs scored in the series.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 5, Rockies 1