St. Louis @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 17, 2013 ) St. Louis 11, Colorado 4

If the St. Louis Cardinals ultimately win the National League Central, their first order of business should be to send the San Diego Padres a thank you note. St. Louis carries a one-game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates into the third contest of a four-game series against the Rockies in Colorado on Wednesday. As St. Louis was unleashing a 15-hit attack in an 11-4 victory over the Rockies on Tuesday, San Diego was winning its second straight in Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals, who have won eight of their last 11 games, were aided Tuesday by a 4-for-4 performance from Matt Holliday, which included a two-run homer. St. Louis gives the ball to ace Adam Wainwright, who is 5-1 with a 1.17 ERA in eight games (six starts) against the Rockies - including a 1.08 ERA in 16 2/3 innings at Coors Field. He will oppose Tyler Chatwood, who has recorded three straight no-decisions since returning to the rotation after missing August with an elbow injury.

TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), ROOT (Colorado)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (16-9, 2.96 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Tyler Chatwood (7-4, 3.20)

Wainwright received a no-decision in his last outing when he allowed one run and six hits in eight innings of a 2-1 victory over Seattle on Friday. It was the second straight solid outing for the 32-year-old, who beat Pittsburgh 5-0 with seven shutout innings after allowing 15 runs in eight frames over his previous two turns. The Rockies' roster is hitting .222 against Wainwright, with Troy Tulowitzki 1-for-11.

Chatwood's first outing off the disabled list didn't last long as he left in the third inning after taking a ground ball off his pitching thumb. The 23-year-old came back six days later and allowed one run on five hits in six innings of a 2-1 loss at San Diego on Sept. 7 and threw 110 pitches while allowing two runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of a 7-5 win over Arizona on Friday. At the plate, Chatwood is hitting .314 with seven RBIs in 35 at-bats.

WALK-OFFS

1. Holliday, who batted .319 while hitting 128 home runs with Colorado in his first five major-league seasons, has a .360 lifetime average and 500 hits at Coors Field. He recorded his eighth straight 20-homer season with Tuesday's blast.

2. Rockies RF Michael Cuddyer went 2-for-3 on Tuesday to raise his average to .331, four points higher than Atlanta's Chris Johnson in the NL batting race.

3. Rockies C Wilin Rosario, who is hitting .292 with 21 homers and 79 RBIs, left the last two games with a calf injury. Manager Walt Weiss said Rosario will probably miss the next couple games.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 3, Rockies 2