St. Louis (75-64) defeated the Diamondbacks 6-2 on Thursday, improving to 15-4 in their last 19 meetings against them. The Cardinals also have won nine of their last 10 at Chase Field, outscoring Arizona 67-29.Albert Pujols had two singles on Thursday, and is batting .455 (10-for-22) with five home runs and seven RBIs during a six-game hitting streak. Pujols also is hitting .348 (8-for-23) with a home run and two RBIs in his career against Livan Hernandez (10-12, 5.24 ERA), who starts for Arizona today.Hernandez has struggled since being acquired from Washington on Aug. 7, losing his last three starts and going 1-4 with a 4.84 ERA in five starts with Arizona (65-75).He has allowed 12 runs in 20 2-3 innings during his skid.Hernandez is 4-5 with a 4.58 ERA in 14 career appearances against the Cardinals.St. Louis counters with rookie Anthony Reyes (5-6, 4.31), who looked sharp in his return to the Cardinals' rotation after being sent to Triple-A Memphis for two weeks.Reyes had a career-high nine strikeouts and allowed four hits in 6 1-3 scoreless innings of a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday. Arizona has lost eight of its last nine games.

Dan Haren (12-11, 3.88 ERA) will start for Oakland.He is 1-2 with an 8.15 ERA in his last three starts.He allowed five runs in five innings Saturday in a 6-5 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles, including four in the first three innings.Tampa ended a 14-game losing streak to Minnesota with a 4-2 win Wednesday as Greg Norton and Ty Wigginton hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning.Norton has homered twice in his last three starts.James Shields (6-6, 4.38) tries to extend his personal winning streak to three games and improve his record at Tropicana Field to 5-2. The rookie right-hander did not have a decision Sept. 1 despite holding the Mariners to one run and five hits in seven innings before Tampa pulled out a 2-1 victory.The 24-year-old Shields has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last six starts and is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in his last four outings.

Chicago W'Sox have lost six of their last eight games,and another struggling pitcher,Freddy Garcia (13-9, 5.10 ERA) will start today.Garcia is 0-3 with an 11.25 ERA in three starts against the Indians this season. He's also 3-5 with a 5.70 ERA in his last 12 starts.The right-hander gave up five runs on eight hits over seven-plus innings in a 7-3 loss to Kansas City on Sunday.Paul Byrd (9-7, 4.78) gets the start for the Indians.The right-hander lost for the first time since July 5, a span of 10 starts, his last time out when he surrendered four runs and 10 hits over 6 1-3 innings in a 5-2 loss to Texas on Sunday.The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.82 ERA in three career starts at U.S. Cellular Field.The odds are great,and i hope Indians will win this game by two or more.

Derek Lowe (13-8, 3.79 ERA) will start for LA,and he is looking for his fifth straight victory.On Tuesday, the right-hander was named NL pitcher of the month for August after going 4-1 with a 1.69 ERA in six games - five starts.He's allowed only six earned runs in his last five outings.Lowe didn't earn a decision against the Brewers on May 5, allowing two runs and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings of Los Angeles' 4-3 win. He is 1-0 wit a 2.75 ERA in four career games against Milwaukee. Chris Capuano (11-9, 3.55) looks for his second victory since the All-Star break when he takes the mound for Milwaukee on Wednesday. The right-hander is 1-5 with a 4.26 ERA in his last 10 starts.I belive Dodgers will win this game by two or more.

Pedro Astacio (3-4, 6.12 ERA) will start for Washington.The right-hander is 0-2 with a 13.94 ERA over his last three outings and has posted a 7.03 ERA while winning just once in his previous six starts.Astacio has combined to pitch only 10 1-3 innings in his last three appearances,and is 7-12 with a 5.12 ERA in 25 games - including 22 starts - against St. Louis.St. Louis will counter with Jeff Suppan (10-7, 4.61), who will be looking to continue his solid pitching. The right-hander has given up one run over his last two starts, a span of 14 2-3 innings. Astacio is very bad pitcher,and i just can't see Washington winning this game.

Jason Marquis (14-12, 5.86 ERA) will start for St Louis.The right-hander, looking for his third win in four starts, was 15-7 for St. Louis in 2004.Ramon Ortiz (9-12, 5.34) gets the start for Washington.Since he beat Florida on Aug. 9, the right-hander is 0-3 with an 11.42 ERA in four starts. He took the loss Wednesday after yielding four runs and five hits through six innings of a 5-1 loss to the Phillies. Ortiz has not faced the Cardinals this season, and is 1-2 with an 8.10 ERA in four career starts against them.Washington lost three of four to St. Louis in April. The Nationals have been shut out in 19 straight innings at home versus the Carindals.

Steve Trachsel (14-5, 4.98 ERA) will start for the Mets.He won his third straight start and fifth straight decision on Tuesday, allowing three runs in six innings of a 10-5 victory at Colorado.Trachsel is 12-1 in his last 15 starts despite a 5.21 ERA over that span, thanks to an average of 9.35 runs of support in those outings.Atlanta will counter with Chuck James (7-3, 4.02).James has made three career appearances against the Mets, going 0-1 with an 18.90 ERA. His only start against them came on July 30, when he was pounded for seven runs in just one inning of a 10-6 loss.The Mets have won eight of 12 against the Braves this season,and i hope they will win this game.

Florida beat Milwaukee 9-6 in 10 innings on Saturday, handing the Brewers their ninth straight loss overall. The Marlins (67-68) are 6-0 against Milwaukee (62-74) this season and have won seven straight in the series dating to Aug. 25, 2005.Scott Olsen (11-7, 4.24 ERA) looks for his third straight victory when he starts for Florida on Sunday. Olsen allowed one run and three hits in eight innings of a 9-1 victory over St. Louis on Tuesday.Tomo Ohka (4-3, 4.40), who has only one victory in his last seven starts will start for Milwaukee today.Ohka has struggled in his career against Florida, with a 2-10 record and 5.02 ERA in 17 career starts.Since beating Cincinnati on July 23, Ohka has gone 1-2 with a 6.23 ERA in seven starts, causing his ERA to rise from 2.87.

The surging Los Angeles Dodgers seek an eighth straight victory.Veteran Aaron Sele (7-5, 4.11 ERA) will start for Los Angeles.He was brilliant in his lone start against Colorado this year, allowing three singles over seven scoreless innings in a 7-1 victory on May 24.The right-hander is 6-1 with a 2.45 ERA in eight starts at home this year.Colorado starter Byung Hyun-Kim (7-10, 5.49) is 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA over his last five outings. He hasn't lasted past the fifth inning in any of his last three starts, and gave up seven runs over 4 2-3 innings in a 10-5 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday.Becouse of great Dodgers form,and Kim's poor pitching i belive LA Dodgers will win this game by two or more.

Athletics have been the best team in the majors over the past three weeks, and Esteban Loaiza has been the best pitcher in the game.Loaiza looks to win his fifth straight decision when he takes the ball in the Athletics' series finale against the Baltimore Orioles today at McAfee Coliseum.He is 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA in five starts during his winning streak, but has been even more spectacular in his last four outings. The right-hander is 3-0 and has allowed just one earned run in 30 2-3 innings over his last four starts, dropping his ERA nearly two runs from 6.41.He also has not allowed an earned run in his last 28 2-3 innings, and has one walk and 18 strikeouts in 22 2-3 innings over his last three starts.Baltimore is 10-6 since Aug. 16, but has won just two of its last nine games against the A's.Hayden Penn makes his first start of the season for Baltimore on Sunday,and he went 3-2 with a 6.34 ERA in eight starts last year for the Orioles.Esteban Loaiza is in great form and i think Oakland will have no problem beating this handicap.

Chris Carpenter tries for his seventh victory in eight decisions when the Cardinals (71-61) begin a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium.Carpenter (12-6, 2.96 ERA) is putting himself in contention to win it again based on his performance in the second half of the season. Since June 28, Carpenter has gone 6-2 with a 2.95 ERA and two complete games in 12 starts.He has been superb in his last three outings, allowing just three runs over his last 25 innings. The right-hander gave up a run and two hits over eight innings to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, but didn't earn a decision.Carpenter is usually at the top of his game when facing Pittsburgh (53-81). He's 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA this season and 8-1 with a 2.40 ERA in 10 career starts, including seven straight victories versus the Pirates.St. Louis has won five of its last six games.The Pirates enter this series coming off a three-game sweep of the Cubs.Zach Duke (8-12, 5.01) looks for his first victory in four starts when he takes the mound for Pittsburgh. Duke's last victory came over St. Louis when he threw an eight-hitter on Aug. 11, but he's gone 0-2 with a 4.43 ERA in three starts since then.Duke allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings of a 7-4 loss to Houston on Saturday. St Louis to win by two or more.