San Diego @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 17, 2010 ) San Diego 4, St. Louis 14
The San Diego Padres are hoping the return of an injured starter can help get them back atop their division. The St. Louis Cardinals are counting on a veteran journeyman to keep them in the playoff race.
The Padres try to halt a three-game losing streak on Saturday when they take on the Cardinals in the third contest of their four-game series at Busch Stadium.
Following a 10-game losing streak, San Diego rebounded nicely, winning six of its next nine. But the club has lost each of its last three - including the first two at Busch Stadium, where it has dropped 11 straight since posting a victory on Aug. 7, 2007.
Miguel Tejada and Chase Headley homered in Friday's 14-4 defeat, which saw Mat Latos deliver the worst performance of his brief major league career. The 22-year-old was battered for a career-high eight runs and nine hits in just 1 1/3 innings, the shortest of his 38 starts in the majors.
With the setback, the Padres fell to 6-9 in September and 2-2 on their 10-game road trip. It also dropped them 1 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the wild-card race, but they remained one-half game off the pace in the NL West as the San Francisco Giants suffered a 3-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Since owning a 6 1/2-game lead in the division on Aug. 25, San Diego has lost 16 of 22 games.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals gained another game on Cincinnati in the NL Central, climbing within six as the Reds dropped a 5-3 decision to the Houston Astros. St. Louis has 16 games remaining on the schedule.
On Friday, the middle of the Cardinals' order was unstoppable. Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Colby Rasmus and Yadier Molina - the team's No. 3-6 hitters, went a combined 12-for-18 with 10 RBIs and eight runs scored.
Molina led the way, going 4-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs. Rasmus collected three hits and scored four times, Holliday homered and drove in three runs and Pujols added three hits and two RBIs.
The Padres attempt to end their slide at Busch Stadium behind Chris Young, who will be making his second start of the season. The right-hander has been sidelined with a strained right shoulder since pitching in San Diego's second game of 2010, a 6-3 victory at Arizona in which Young limited the Diamondbacks to a single and three walks in six scoreless innings.
Young, who has started just 33 games over the last three years due to injuries, is seeking his first career win against St. Louis. In four previous meetings with the Cardinals, the 31-year-old has gone 0-3 with a 3.92 ERA.
After making a pair of relief appearances, Jeff Suppan gets the call for St. Louis. It will be the 10th start as a Cardinal for the right-hander, who has gone 1-5 with a 4.47 ERA while in the rotation.
Suppan, who spent the entire month of August on the disabled list, allowed four runs and three hits over five innings in a 5-2 loss at Houston on Sept. 1. He will be starting Saturday in place of rookie Jaime Garcia, who is being skipped due to arm fatigue.
In 12 career games against San Diego, including one relief appearance, the 35-year-old is 5-4 with a 5.82 ERA. He pitched against the Padres in relief on April 29 while with Milwaukee, yielding three runs and five hits in four frames.
Suppan is 1-1 with a 2.46 ERA in five starts at home for the Cardinals. He also pitched at Busch Stadium for the Brewers on June 4, surrendering three runs and three hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief.