St. Louis @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 19, 2010 ) St. Louis 4, Arizona 2

Tuesday's game is made for Dan Haren. The Arizona Diamondbacks are in desperate need of something positive when the team walks off Chase Field later this evening. Haren has been one of the National League’s best starting pitchers since coming over from the Oakland Athletics prior the 2008 season. He just might be considered the ace of the staff whether or not it had a healthy Brandon Webb, a former Cy Young winner, toeing the rubber every five days. And the Diamondbacks would like the ace to put an end to the team's five-game losing streak - all choreographed by the bullpen. The best way to go about it would be to eliminate the bullpen from the equation with a complete game. However, that might be asking a little too much of Haren against the St. Louis Cardinals, his former organization. The right-hander is 2-0 in two career starts against the Cardinals with a 1.80 ERA. In 15 innings, he has give up 10 hits, five walks with 16 strikeouts. The history of success is there, but the Cardinals are on a roll right now, jumping out to the National League Central lead at 9-4. The Cardinals won the series opener by scoring the final four runs of the game, overcoming an early 2-0 deficit for the 4-2 victory with the winning run coming in the eighth inning. They are playing their typical, fundamental style of ball that has been the case since Tony LaRussa took over before the 1996 season and has led to eight division titles. St. Louis counters with right-hander Kyle Lohse. He appears to be healthy again after a injury-plagued 2009 that saw him start only 22 games and finish 6-10 with a 4.74 ERA. The 31-year-old has only three winning seasons in his 10-year major league career and just one over the last six campaigns. It might be the kind of matchup the Diamondbacks need, although he is 2-1 with a 3.46 ERA in six career games against the club. The Arizona offense, which lost leadoff hitter Conor Jackson to the disabled list with a strained right hamstring, needs to shoulder some the blame during the losing streak as well. In the last four defeats, the offense managed to score early runs to grab the early lead, but failed to add on leaving the bullpen in pressure situations. If the offense can manage to pile up some runs off Lohse and Haren does his job, it just might be the formula that puts an end to the this horrid rut for the Diamondbacks.