(Sports Network) - The St. Louis Cardinals will try to win consecutive games over the Colorado Rockies for the first time in more than two years this evening in the second contest of a four-game set between the clubs at Busch Stadium.
The Rockies swept the Cardinals in three games at home back on July 6-8 to run their series winning streak to four games, but Chris Carpenter halted that slide for St. Louis last night in a 6-1 victory. The 35-year-old hurled his first complete game of the season, giving up just one run on a wild pitch along with four hits and two walks.
Carpenter won his 16th game of the season and stopped a four-start losing streak.
"It's a testament to his work; the winter, the spring, all season long," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of Carpenter. "You could just follow his program. He puts a lot of time and effort keeping himself in tip-top shape. He's fresh as he can be. He's ready to pitch longer. Unfortunately, he's not going to."
Matt Pagnozzi drove in two runs for the Cardinals, who have won four of five and six of their last eight.
Having still lost 11 of their last 13 versus the Rockies, the Cardinals will try to win two straight in this series for the first time since back-to-back victories at Colorado on May 5-6, 2008.
Dexter Fowler tripled and scored the lone run for the Rockies, who have dropped five straight and 10 of 11. Jason Hammel was tagged with the loss as he was charged with five runs on eight hits in just three innings.
"I'm taking my mind off baseball for a while," Hammel said. "I'll probably watch some postseason games. This hurts. This is a dagger for me."
Pending free agent Jake Westbrook will try to pitch the Cardinals to another win tonight and he has won two of his last three starts.
The 33-year-old wasn't too sharp in his last outing though, giving up five runs -- three earned -- on five hits and four walks over 5 1/3 innings of an 8-7 victory over the Cubs on Sunday.
Westbrook is 3-4 with a 3.88 earned run average in 11 starts with St. Louis since coming over in a trade from Cleveland. The right-hander is 9-11 with a 4.38 ERA in 32 total starts this season.
Westbrook has faced the Rockies twice, including one start, and is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA.
Jorge De La Rosa has dropped two straight starts since a four-decision win streak and the Rockies southpaw will try to close out his season with a win.
De La Rosa yielded three runs on four hits and five walks over six innings in a loss to the Giants on Sunday, falling to 8-6 with a 4.24 ERA in 19 starts this season.
The 29-year-old is 4-2 with a 5.70 ERA in 12 (6) versus the Cardinals.