San Diego @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( May 27, 2010 ) St. Louis 8, San Diego 3

A series win against the St. Louis Cardinals could be critical in the San Diego Padres' quest for a playoff berth. For St. Louis, a series victory may be too little, too late.

The Padres try to maintain their hold on the National League West as they begin a four-game series against the Cardinals on Thursday night at Busch Stadium.

San Diego, which has owned at least a share of first place in the division since June 18, has gone just 6-8 in September but is 6-4 since a 10-game losing streak. The Padres embarked on a 10-game road trip on Monday and won the first two contests but dropped a 9-6 decision in Colorado on Wednesday, reducing their lead over San Francisco to one-half game.

Adrian Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs, but Clayton Richard was battered for eight runs and 11 hits in just three-plus innings. Troy Tulowitzki belted a pair of homers and drove in seven runs for the Rockies, who are only 2 1/3 games behind the Padres in the NL West.

The Cardinals continued their downward spiral Wednesday as the Chicago Cubs completed their first three-game sweep in St. Louis since June 10-12, 1988 with a 7-3 triumph. While Colby Rasmus went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Cardinals, Chris Carpenter yielded five runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 frames before leaving with a cramp in his right hamstring.

With the defeat, the Cardinals fell eight games behind Cincinnati in the NL Central with 18 contests remaining. Their hopes for the wild card aren't much better as they trail Atlanta by 7 1/2 games, with two other clubs between them.

St. Louis can blame its current status on a slump that has seen it lose 21 of its last 30 games.

Hoping to begin a tremendous turnaround for the Cardinals is Jake Westbrook, who has gone 0-3 with a 4.06 ERA over his last five starts.

Westbrook has allowed more than three runs just once in eight outings since being acquired from Cleveland. He gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings Saturday but settled for a no-decision in a 6-3 loss at Atlanta.

The 32-year old, who is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA in three starts at Busch Stadium, also owns a 1-1 record and a 1.08 ERA in two career games - including one relief appearance - against San Diego. He has had some difficulty with Miguel Tejada, who is 12-for-33 (.364) with seven RBIs vs. the right-hander.

Tim Stauffer will make his third straight start for the Padres and fourth overall this season. He has been superb when in the rotation, going 1-0 while allowing just one earned run in 15 innings for a 0.60 ERA.

Stauffer outdueled San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner last Saturday, scattering three hits over six innings en route to a 1-0 triumph over the Giants.

The 28-year old has had absolutely no success against the Cardinals during his career, going 0-3 with a 10.13 ERA in three outings.

Stauffer will be making his second road start of the year and first since May 9 at Houston.

San Diego has lost nine games in a row at Busch Stadium.