Philadelphia Phillies vs St. Louis Cardinals live streaming items news products reviews wallpapers may 16, 2011. Game Review: The St. Louis Cardinals are hoping to have manager Tony La Russa back in the dugout for the first time in a week.
They are likely less enthused about welcoming Ryan Howard back to Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals try to avoid losing a fourth straight game Monday night when they face the Philadelphia Phillies and Howard, who has always enjoyed hitting in his hometown.
7:00 PM ET, May 16, 2011
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
La Russa has missed the last six games while recovering from a painful bout with shingles. He had originally targeted a return date of Monday, but it is uncertain if he'll be back.
The Cardinals (22-19) have gone 2-4 without La Russa. They suffered a 9-7 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday that completed a three-game sweep and dropped them 1 1/2 games behind the Reds in the NL Central.
Some St. Louis players were upset Albert Pujols was hit by Francisco Cordero in the ninth inning Sunday. The slugger suffered a bruised left wrist, but stayed in the game.
The first baseman has batted .250 with two RBIs in his last five games, and has posted a .152 average with two homers and five RBIs in his last nine home contests against the Phillies.
His counterpart on Philadelphia (25-14) has fared much better.
Howard, who was born in St. Louis and went to Missouri State, hit .412 with a homer, two doubles and two RBIs in four games at Busch Stadium last season. In 21 career games at Busch, Howard is batting .388 -- his highest mark at an NL park -- with eight home runs, 31 RBIs and a .520 on-base percentage.
Despite Howard's exploits in St. Louis, Philadelphia dropped three of four there last season, scoring eight runs.
Hitting woes have plagued the Phillies lately, as they've managed 16 runs while batting .193 in losing three of five. Philadelphia was limited to four hits in a 3-2 defeat to Atlanta on Sunday.
Leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins has batted .167 without a walk in the last five games.
"Our hitting's got to pick up," manager Charlie Manuel said. "We'll find somebody. We'll look until we find somebody."
Cliff Lee (2-3, 3.78 ERA) has suffered from Philadelphia's lack of offensive punch.
He finally received some offensive support, albeit two runs, against Florida on Wednesday after making three straight starts without getting any runs. The left-hander allowed three runs in six innings of a 5-3 victory but did not receive the decision.
Lee has gotten five total runs of support in his last five starts, going 0-2 with a 3.55 ERA. He also had a five-game stretch without a victory last season for Texas, and hasn't made six consecutive winless starts since a nine-game drought in 2004 with Cleveland.
Lee appears to have a good chance of getting back in the win column Monday, as he has posted a 1.20 ERA in winning his two career starts against the Cardinals.
St. Louis will hand the ball to Jake Westbrook (2-3, 6.92), who yielded five runs in a season-low 2 1/3 innings of an 11-4 loss to Chicago on Wednesday.
Westbrook was coming off three straight strong outings in which he posted a 2.45 ERA after recording a 9.82 ERA in his first four games.
"Kind of went back to the same thing I was doing earlier in the season," he said. "It's something I can't do."
This will be the right-hander's second career start against the Phillies. He gave up four runs in five innings of Philadelphia's 7-6 comeback win over Cleveland on June 23.
They are likely less enthused about welcoming Ryan Howard back to Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals try to avoid losing a fourth straight game Monday night when they face the Philadelphia Phillies and Howard, who has always enjoyed hitting in his hometown.
7:00 PM ET, May 16, 2011
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
La Russa has missed the last six games while recovering from a painful bout with shingles. He had originally targeted a return date of Monday, but it is uncertain if he'll be back.
The Cardinals (22-19) have gone 2-4 without La Russa. They suffered a 9-7 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday that completed a three-game sweep and dropped them 1 1/2 games behind the Reds in the NL Central.
Some St. Louis players were upset Albert Pujols was hit by Francisco Cordero in the ninth inning Sunday. The slugger suffered a bruised left wrist, but stayed in the game.
His counterpart on Philadelphia (25-14) has fared much better.
Despite Howard's exploits in St. Louis, Philadelphia dropped three of four there last season, scoring eight runs.
Hitting woes have plagued the Phillies lately, as they've managed 16 runs while batting .193 in losing three of five. Philadelphia was limited to four hits in a 3-2 defeat to Atlanta on Sunday.
Leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins has batted .167 without a walk in the last five games.
"Our hitting's got to pick up," manager Charlie Manuel said. "We'll find somebody. We'll look until we find somebody."
Cliff Lee (2-3, 3.78 ERA) has suffered from Philadelphia's lack of offensive punch.
Lee has gotten five total runs of support in his last five starts, going 0-2 with a 3.55 ERA. He also had a five-game stretch without a victory last season for Texas, and hasn't made six consecutive winless starts since a nine-game drought in 2004 with Cleveland.
Lee appears to have a good chance of getting back in the win column Monday, as he has posted a 1.20 ERA in winning his two career starts against the Cardinals.
Westbrook was coming off three straight strong outings in which he posted a 2.45 ERA after recording a 9.82 ERA in his first four games.
"Kind of went back to the same thing I was doing earlier in the season," he said. "It's something I can't do."
This will be the right-hander's second career start against the Phillies. He gave up four runs in five innings of Philadelphia's 7-6 comeback win over Cleveland on June 23.
