Houston @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 12, 2010 ) Houston 9, St. Louis 6
The Houston Astros have put together brief winning streaks before this season - two of them, in fact - but their current one carries a little more weight.
The Astros have won three in a row, one short of their season-best streak, and they've done it against a pair of first-place teams in San Diego and St. Louis. They'll go for a three-game sweep Thursday at Busch Stadium.
One sign the Astros might be turning the corner is the resurgence of slugging first baseman Lance Berkman, who is 4-for-10 with two homers in the last three games after seeing his average dip to .175. Berkman has hit home runs in each of the first two games of the series.
And if the Astros can keep the bats going, they should be in good shape. They are 11-3 when scoring four or more runs and 1-18 when they score three or fewer.
While the Astros have been making progress, St. Louis has lost six of eight to watch its lead over Cincinnati in the NL Central dwindle to one game. Sloppy defense has hurt the Cardinals so far in the series, as they've made five errors that led to nine unearned runs. Four of those errors were charged to shortstop Brendan Ryan.
The Cardinals hope to salvage the final game by sending out veteran right-hander Chris Carpenter, who has given them six quality starts in his seven outings this year.
Carpenter took a no-decision in his last start, allowing two runs on eight hits over seven innings in a 4-3 win at Pittsburgh. He struck out for the second start in a row, matching his strikeout mark from May 2 when he threw seven innings of two-hit, shutout ball to beat the Reds.
Carpenter is 6-3 against the Astros with a 2.72 ERA in 14 starts. Kaz Matsui is the only Houston player hitting over .300 lifetime against Carpenter at .385 (5-for-13) though Berkman has six homers and 12 RBIs in 33 at-bats against him.
Outfielder Michael Bourn is 10-for-21 against the Cardinals this season, but he has only two hits in nine career at-bats against Carpenter.
Houston counters with 25-year-old right-hander Bud Norris, who is off to a rough start in 2010 after winning three of his last four starts last year. Norris has lost his last three starts, including a 7-0 defeat Friday against the Padres in which he lasted only four innings, allowing five runs on five hits.
Control problems have contributed to Norris' struggles - he has walked 20 in his first six starts, and hasn't pitched past the fifth inning yet this year.