Los Angeles @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 9, 2010 ) St. Louis 3, LA Dodgers 4

The St. Louis Cardinals haven't fared well against the National League West this season.

Facing one of the top left-handers in the major leagues Thursday, the Cardinals may have no choice but to continue that trend.

Clayton Kershaw looks for his 10th victory of the season as the leads the Los Angeles Dodgers into St. Louis in the opener of a three-game series that kicks off the second half of the campaign for both teams. The Cards enter the second half one game back of Cincinnati for top spot in the NL Central, while the Dodgers trail the division-leading San Diego Padres by two games in the West.

St. Louis would own the division lead had it asserted itself better against NL West opponents in the first half. The Cardinals won just seven of 21 meetings against the West, and were swept out of Los Angeles in their previous meeting in early June.

Clayton Kershaw capped the Dodgers' sweep by outdueling Cardinals co-ace Adam Wainwright in the series finale. Kershaw (9-4) gets the start in Thursday's series opener against St. Louis' other star hurler, veteran Chris Carpenter (9-3).

Despite being just 22 years old, Kershaw emerged as one of the top starters in the National League over the first half of the season. The skilled left-hander is tied for sixth in the NL in victories while ranking second in strikeouts (128) and ninth in ERA (2.96).

He has won each of his last two starts and looked dominant in his previous outing allowing two runs over eight innings while striking out 12 as the Dodgers edged the Chicago Cubs 3-2. The strikeouts were a season high, and he didn't walk a batter.

Kershaw has excelled against the Cardinals over his career, going 2-0 with a 2.27 ERA and 36 strikeouts over 31 1/3 innings. The Cardinals are hitting just .189 off of him all-time.

Carpenter has had a solid season in his own right, but has sputtered of late. The 35-year-old is 0-2 over his previous three starts after losing just one in his first 16 outings to begin the season. He surrendered four runs in six innings in his previous appearance, a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

A matchup against the Dodgers might just be what Carpenter needs to snap out of his funk. He's 5-0 all-time against Los Angeles with a 1.88 ERA over 48 innings. He tossed seven shutout innings in his previous meeting with the Dodgers on June 8, but earned a no-decision as the Cards went on to lose 1-0.