St. Louis @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 16, 2013 ) St. Louis 2, Colorado 6

The St. Louis Cardinals have baseball's most productive leadoff hitter in Matt Carpenter, who is also building a case to earn MVP honors. Carpenter and the Cardinals will try to shrug off Monday's 6-2 loss when they visit the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday in the second contest of a four-game series. The 27-year-old second baseman has a major league-best 64 RBIs, his 100 runs share the lead with Cincinnati's Shin-Soo Choo, and his .327 batting average is tops among qualifying leadoff men.

Carpenter's double - his major league-leading 51st - tied Monday's game 2-2 in the eighth inning before the bullpen suffered a rare meltdown in the bottom half. The Cardinals remained tied for first in the National League Central thanks to Pittsburgh's 2-0 setback to San Diego. St. Louis' Joe Kelly is coming off his first loss since going 8-0 in 11 starts after joining the rotation July 6 and will oppose Juan Nicasio, who earned a pair of no-decisions during Colorado's recent 2-7 road trip.

TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), ROOT (Colorado)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Joe Kelly (8-4, 2.87 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Juan Nicasio (8-7, 4.58)

Kelly allowed four runs (three earned) and seven hits in five innings of a 5-3 loss to Milwaukee on Thursday, which snapped a five-game winning streak. The 25-year-old Anaheim, Calif., native recorded a 1.50 ERA in his five previous starts - all lasting six innings. Kelly is 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA in two games against Colorado, including a 3-2 loss last season when he allowed three runs (two earned) and five hits in six innings in his fifth major-league game.

The Rockies have lost Nicasio's last three starts, although he pitched well enough to win the last two, both 4-3 defeats. The 27-year-old Dominican Republic native allowed three runs (two earned) and nine hits in 11 innings over the two outings and has yielded three or fewer earned runs in six of his last seven turns. Nicasio's only appearance against St. Louis came in his major-league debut, when he allowed an unearned run and six hits in seven innings of a 15-4 victory on May 28, 2011.

WALK-OFFS

1. Colorado RF Michael Cuddyer went 0-for-4 on Monday and trails Atlanta's Chris Johnson .3298 to .3290 in the NL batting race.

2. Rockies 1B Todd Helton, who Saturday announced his retirement effective at the end of the season - his 17th - singled to set the table for Colorado's four-run eighth inning. Monday's game was the beginning of the final homestand for Helton, who has a .317 career batting average.

3. Rockies rookie 3B Nolan Arenado (thumb) and C Wilin Rosario (calf) left Monday's game and are day-to-day.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 3, Rockies 2