St. Louis @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( May 18, 2010 ) Washington 2, St. Louis 3

For a team that has lost two straight games to the worst club in the majors, facing a pitcher fresh off ligament replacement surgery may be just what the doctor ordered.

The struggling St. Louis Cardinals look to reverse their fortunes Thursday when they visit Jordan Zimmermann and the Washington Nationals in the opener of a four-game series at Nationals Park.

After beginning their season-high 10-game road trip with a 10-2 victory at Pittsburgh, the Cardinals dropped the next two against the Pirates, including a 5-2 setback on Wednesday. Jake Westbrook, who allowed four runs in six innings, suffered his second straight loss after going 1-0 over his first three starts for St. Louis, which acquired him from Cleveland prior to the July 31 trade deadline.

The loss was the seventh in 10 games for the Cardinals, who fell 3 1/2 games behind first-place Cincinnati in the National League Central and remained one game in back of Philadelphia and San Francisco in the race for the wild card.

St. Louis can take solace in having won six in a row and 13 of 15 against Washington, which sends Zimmermann to the mound for the first time since elbow surgery last August.

The right-hander will be limited to five innings per start for the remainder of the season. He appears ready for major league action after posting a 0.53 ERA in four rehab outings for Triple-A Syracuse.

As a rookie last season, Zimmermann went 3-5 with a 4.63 ERA in 16 starts prior to surgery. The 24-year old faced the Cardinals on May 1, 2009, surrendering five runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 6-2 loss in which St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols went 3-for-3 with a solo home run.

The Nationals, who have lost four in a row and 13 of 17, face the unenviable task of hitting against Chris Carpenter, who has won five of his last six decisions and allowed three runs or less in each of his last eight starts.

Carpenter yielded just one run and five hits over 7 1/3 innings Saturday en route to a 5-1 victory over San Francisco.

The 35-year old former Cy Young Award winner owns a 6-1 record and 3.30 ERA in 11 career outings against Washington. He gave up two runs, one earned, on nine hits in eight innings of a 3-2 triumph over the Nationals at home on May 18.

Carpenter has gone 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA in 11 road starts this year.

Ivan Rodriguez has been the most successful of all the Nationals against Carpenter, going 10-for-28 (.357) with seven RBIs.

Washington fell to 7-16 this month following a three-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs. Former Cub Jason Marquis had his best outing of the season Wednesday, allowing one run in 7 1/3 innings and recording one of his team's four hits, but still fell to 0-7 as the Nationals were shut out for the 10th time this season and third time in six games, losing 4-0.