San Diego @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 16, 2010 ) San Diego 0, St. Louis 4

The San Diego Padres' futility at Busch Stadium continued Thursday and cost them their hold on first place in the National League West. They're hoping Mat Latos can shake off a poor outing and help them end their drought in St. Louis and reclaim the top spot in the division.

Latos and the Padres try to halt a 10-game losing streak at Busch Stadium tonight when they take on the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of their four-game series.

San Diego had been in first place in the National League West since June 16, but fell one-half game behind San Francisco as the Padres dropped a 4-0 decision to the Cardinals while the Giants posted a 10-2 victory over Los Angeles. San Diego held a 6 1/2 game lead in the division on August 25 but has gone 6-15 since.

Jake Westbrook scattered six singles over eight scoreless innings on Thursday for the Cardinals, who stopped a three-game skid and won for just the 10th time in their last 31 contests. Yadier Molina hit a two-run single while Jon Jay collected three hits and scored a pair of runs for St. Louis, which climbed within seven games of Cincinnati in the NL Central with 17 games remaining.

The Cardinals also trail Atlanta by seven in the wild-card race.

San Diego, which has not won at Busch Stadium since Aug. 7, 2007, fell to 2-2 on its 10-game road trip and 23-8 against NL Central teams. It is counting on Latos to rebound from an off-day.

Latos was tagged for five runs and seven hits in just four innings of a 6-1 loss to San Francisco on Sunday. It was the right-hander's first loss in seven outings and marked the first time he surrendered more than three earned runs since April 26 at Florida, ending a 22-start streak.

Latos still leads the major leagues with a .197 opponents' batting average against, despite to sub-par effort. He also owns a 9-3 record and 2.36 ERA in 16 starts on the road this year.

He will be facing St. Louis for the second time in his career. On Aug. 14, 2009, the 22-year old gave up seven runs and eight hits over four innings of a 9-2 defeat.

Squaring off against Latos will be Kyle Lohse, who has lost four of his last six games.

Lohse has gone 2-3 with an 8.75 ERA in five starts since returning from a strained right forearm that landed him on the disabled list. He picked up the win in a 7-3 triumph at Atlanta on Sunday, yielding two runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The 31-year old Lohse has faced San Diego six times in his career, going 1-3 with a 6.25 ERA. Miguel Tejada has fared well against him over the years, going 10-for-33 (.303) with a home run and three RBIs.

One thing in the Padres' favor is the fact Lohse has struggled at Busch Stadium in 2010, going 1-4 with a 5.79 ERA in seven outings.