St. Louis @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 9, 2010 ) St. Louis 11, Atlanta 4

If they could play winning teams all the time, the St. Louis Cardinals would have the National League just about wrapped up by now.

The Cardinals will be looking to continue their success against contending teams when they face the Atlanta Braves again on Friday.

In less than a month St. Louis dropped from first place in the National League Central to eight games back due to its inability to find ways to beat some of the worst teams in the league. After sweeping the Cincinnati Reds from Aug. 9-11 to take a one-game lead in the division, the Cardinals spent the next four weeks going 4-14 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals - all of whom have been out of contention since the All-Star break.

St. Louis somehow managed to get up for the good teams during that span though, taking two of three from the San Francisco Giants last month and forcing their way back onto the fringes of contention by grabbing two of three against Cincinnati last weekend.

Atlanta proved to be no match for the Cardinals in the series opener on Thursday, as Colby Rasmus homered and drove in three while Skip Schumaker and Albert Pujols added homers in a 10-3 rout. Adam Wainwright started for St. Louis and managed to snap his four-start losing streak, allowing one hit after the first inning.

That win combined with Cincinnati’s recent losing streak has drawn the Cardinals back to within five games of the division lead.

The loss dropped the Braves a full game behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East race and trimmed their lead in the wild card to one game over the Giants.

The Braves will turn to impressive rookie Mike Minor on Friday. One of many high-ceiling young arms in the Atlanta system, Minor yielded three earned runs or less in each of his first four major league starts, including a 12-strikeout performance against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 22. His last outing didn’t go quite as well, as the 22-year-old was knocked around for six runs on nine hits in four innings of a no-decision at Florida.

Minor has notched 31 strikeouts in 27 total innings so far in the majors.

The Cardinals will turn to veteran Chris Carpenter with their season on the line. The former Cy Young award winner seems to be one of the only members of the team playing up to his capabilities lately, as he has allowed two earned runs in each of his last two starts.

Carpenter presided over a win last Sunday, striking out 11 while surrendering two runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings against the Reds.

He has faced Atlanta once this season, earning a win while allowing two runs and three hits in six innings on April 27. The Braves have traditionally been one of Carpenter’s tougher foes, knocking him around for a 2-3 record and a 5.83 ERA in eight career starts.