Houston at St. Louis

The Cards made a run late, but then faded quickly down the stretch. Their recent slide is a 2-12 run that has left them high and dry of the playoffs. The continuing saga for this team has been the lack of any consistent offense. Their latest tailspin shows they have produced less than four runs a game over their last 14. Brandon Looper has had a see-saw season, and has allowed six or more earned runs in seven starts, so when he is bad, he is awful. Wandy Rodriguez has also been up and down this season, but he has been consistent after a few consecutive bad outings. Rodriguez has allowed four or more runs in two consecutive starts this season twice, and has come back with gems both times. One outing was seven innings, and one run, and the other was six while not allowing a single run. We will ride him here, expecting a very strong start against the hitless Cards.