Colorado @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 12, 2014 ) Colorado 1, St. Louis 5

The Colorado Rockies traded Matt Holliday following the 2008 season and have likely regretted it ever since. The St. Louis Cardinals left fielder enters Saturday’s contest against the visiting Rockies with a .395 batting average, 10 home runs and 33 RBIs in 34 games against his former team. Holliday crushed a three-run homer in Friday’s 5-1 victory, which snapped the Cardinals’ three-game losing streak and kept them 2 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the National League Central.

Justin Morneau, whose .315 average ranks second in the National League batting race, left Friday’s game due to left-side intercostal soreness and is listed as day-to-day for Colorado, which has lost four straight. The Cardinals’ Yadier Molina delivered an RBI double in his return to the lineup Friday after missing a game to rest his surgically repaired right thumb, but manager Mike Matheny said his catcher is still not 100 percent. “You can see the splint,” Matheny told reporters. “He’s still protecting it and doing things to strengthen it.”

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

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Franklin Morales (6-7, 5.21 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Shelby Miller (9-9, 3.83)

Morales posted his first win in two months last Sunday as tossed six shutout innings in a 6-0 win over San Diego. The 28-year-old, who entered the contest with a 0-3 mark and five no-decisions since July 8, has recorded all six of his wins this season against NL West opponents. Opponents are batting .295 against Morales, who is making his first career start against St. Louis.

Miller has recorded four consecutive quality starts, including last Monday against Cincinnati when he tossed seven shutout innings. The Texas native has pitched at least six innings in five straight starts and made a strong case for a spot in the team’s postseason rotation. Miller, who left his start against Colorado on June 24 after 2 2/3 innings with a back strain, owns a 1-0 record and 2.31 ERA in two career starts against the Rockies.

WALK-OFFS

1. OF Charlie Blackmon is 19-for-42 with a home run and seven RBIs in nine games against St. Louis.

2. St. Louis LHP Marco Gonzales will start Sunday in place of RHP Michael Wacha, who is being given a few extra days of rest.

3. Colorado has been held to two runs or fewer in 10 straight road games.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 7, Rockies 3