Marlins-Cardinals Preview

Three losses in four games aren't helping the Florida Marlins' chances to stay in the NL playoff race. Facing Adam Wainwright certainly doesn't seem likely to give them a lift.

Wainwright looks to become the majors' first 19-game winner while bolstering his Cy Young Award credentials Tuesday night when the St. Louis Cardinals host the increasingly desperate Marlins.

Florida (76-68) came into Busch Stadium having dropped two of three at home to lowly Washington, dropping 6 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Philadelphia and 5 1/2 behind Colorado for the wild card lead.

The Marlins led St. Louis 6-4 in the fourth inning Monday, but the Cardinals (85-60) took over from there. Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus drove in three runs apiece to lift St. Louis to an 11-6 win that ended a three-game slide and kept its NL Central lead over the Chicago Cubs at 9 1/2 games.

"You're going to have an ebb and flow in the season," Holliday said after surpassing 100 RBIs for the third time in his career. "You just keep fighting and trying to scratch runs across and having good at-bats. There's no rhyme or reason why certain things happen a lot of times."

Holliday, who came over from Oakland on July 24 and spent the first five years of his career in Colorado, is hitting .470 with nine homers and 22 RBIs in his last 16 games against Florida.

The Marlins fell seven games behind idle Philadelphia, though they stayed 5 1/2 behind Colorado after the Rockies lost in San Francisco.

Their prospects for winning Tuesday, however, seem slim as arguably the best pitcher in baseball since the end of June takes the hill for the Cardinals. Wainwright (18-7, 2.59 ERA) has won six straight decisions and is 10-2 with a 1.62 ERA since July 1.

The right-hander has a 1.04 ERA in his last seven home outings, but was equally impressive on the road his last time out. Wainwright gave up five hits over seven shutout innings Wednesday in a 5-1 victory at Milwaukee, becoming baseball's first 18-game winner.

Along with teammate Chris Carpenter and reigning winner Tim Lincecum, Wainwright is at the forefront of the discussion for this year's NL Cy Young Award.

"It'd be cool. It'd be awesome, but winning for the team comes first," Wainwright said. "Whether I win it or not, I still feel good about how the season's been."

Wainwright is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in five career games -- three starts -- against the Marlins. He gave up four runs and 11 hits -- including a homer to Jeremy Hermida, a .417 hitter against Wainwright -- over seven innings in a 13-4 win at Florida on June 10.

Hermida, who has an oblique injury that's sidelined him since Sept. 2, isn't likely to return until next week.

Sean West (6-5, 4.81) will make his first start against the Cardinals, and the rookie's last two outings have been uninspiring even though he hasn't received a decision in either. West gave up five runs over three innings in a 9-6 win at Washington on Sept. 4, then allowed the New York Mets to score four runs in four innings Thursday in a 13-4 victory.

The left-hander is 1/3 with a 6.81 ERA in eight road starts.