Arizona @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 13, 2011 ) St. Louis 15, Arizona 5

THE STORY: The Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals, a pair of prime postseason contenders, meet Thursday in the opener of a four-game series in St. Louis. The teams are among the top run scorers in the National League. Central Division-leading St. Louis may need a strong effort from starting pitcher Kyle McClellan since the Cardinals used six relievers in their 9-8 loss to the Cincinnati Reds in 13 innings Wednesday night. St. Louis took two of three games against Arizona in April. The Diamondbacks, second in the West, have won four of their last 10, while the Cardinals have won six of their last 10. St. Louis is 2-2 on its homestand.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FS Arizona, FS Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks LH Joe Saunders (5-7, 4.04 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Kyle McClellan (6-5, 4.27).

Saunders has made four consecutive quality starts, three of them on the road. Saunders has won two straight and has allowed only five runs in the last 21 innings. He is especially tough against left-handed batters, who are hitting .229 against him. He has also struck out 25 and walked only three left-handed batters. This will be his first career appearance against the Cardinals. McClellan has lost four consecutive games and hasn't won since May 19, a stretch of six starts. His last two outings have been poor as he allowed five runs in each and failed to get out of the sixth inning. One of McClellan's problems has been the home run - he has allowed 12 in 90 2/3 innings. But lefthanders are batting only .207 against him. He is 1-0 against Arizona this year, having allowed one run in six innings on April 2, his only career start against the Diamondbacks.

ABOUT THE DIAMONDBACKS (47-41): Arizona scored 16 runs in winning two of three in Milwaukee. Kelly Johnson is 7-for-24 with two homers through the first six games of the road trip. Chris Young was only 1-for-12 with four strikeouts against the Brewers, while Miguel Montero was 5-for-9. Gerardo Parra is 5-for-12 over the last three games. Sam Demel had pitched seven scoreless innings over eight games before yielding a three-run homer to Milwaukee's Casey McGehee on Wednesday. That blast also ended a string of five scoreless innings through 10 games for Joe Patterson, who allowed the two baserunners before the homer. Patterson had not allowed a run since June 5.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS (47-41): Albert Pujols returned to the lineup Wednesday for the first time since June 19 and went 1-for-6 with an RBI. The Cardinals were 7-7 without him and picked up 1½ games on the rest of the Central. Matt Holliday is 8-for-29 over his last seven games and has three homers over the last two games. Daniel Descalso is 8-for-20 in his last 10 games, but has only three starts during that stretch. Starting pitcher Jake Westbook continues to struggle - he has allowed four or more runs in four of his last five starts, and was touched for seven runs in 4 1/3 innings on Wednesday.

FINAL PITCH: Arizona's Justin Upton expressed disappointment that he wasn't chosen to participate in the Home Run Derby. Upton wanted a chance to compete since the Diamondbacks are hosting the event. He has 14 home runs.