St. Louis @ Chicago preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 24, 2010 ) St. Louis 5, Chi. Cubs 6

Weekends at Wrigley Field are supposed to be fun.

Old time ballpark. Ivy covered wall. Enthusiastic fans.

Don't tell that to the St. Louis Cardinals. The weekend has been a lost cause for Tony La Russa's club as it looks to avoid a sweep against the Cubs in Sunday's series finale at Wrigley.

The Cardinals rolled into town having won eight of nine and looked to strengthen their grip on first place in the National League Central against their top rival.

All signs pointed to a good weekend for the Cardinals, who had won eight straight before losing to Philadelphia on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Cubs entered the weekend below .500 at home at 24-26 and were 16-27 in the division.

Instead, St. Louis has been completely outplayed by the Cubs in losing the first two games of the series. Chicago took Friday's game by a 5-0 score and handed the Cardinals their second consecutive shutout. St. Louis finally managed to generate some offense Saturday, but poor pitching and defense led to a 6-5 loss.

Going into the finale, the Cardinals, who have lost three straight overall, have fallen out of first place. St. Louis trails Cincinnati by a half-game.

It's probably a good thing for the Cardinals that ace Chris Carpenter is on the mound. The right-hander has pitched like a No. 1 starter most of the season and in his last two starts in particular. Carpenter dominated Los Angeles and Philadelphia, allowing two earned runs and nine hits in 16 innings.

Carpenter beat the Cubs in his only start against them this season on May 28. He allowed one run – a homer by Tyler Colvin – in 6 2/3 innings.

The Cardinals have already earned a victory over Ryan Dempster, who starts for the Cubs. The right-hander allowed six runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings on May 30. He gave up two home runs to Albert Pujols, who hit three in the game.

Dempster would be wise to pitch around Pujols whenever possible. The Cardinals slugger is a .310 career hitter (13 for 42) against him with four homers and 10 RBIs. Pujols also has drawn eight walks and struck out once versus Dempster.

Dempster is coming off one of his roughest starts of the season on Tuesday against Houston when he got no help from his defense and ended up with a no-decision. Dempster lasted only five innings, giving up seven runs, four of which were earned, and eight hits. He also had control problems with four walks and only one strikeout.

Still, facing Dempster isn't an easy night for any offense. He has allowed 117 hits and struck out 130 over 133 2/3 innings.