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Pujols Game Day

Pujols set to face a slew of tough pitchers.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are coming to St. Louis for four games. The Diamondbacks have had a pretty good 2007 season, and are led by a slew of good pitchers. The Diamondbacks come into the series with a 46-37 record, 1.5 games behind front running San Diego, and only a half game behind second place Los Angeles. Arizona has lost two straight, both to the San Fransisco Giants, including a 13-0 drubbing on Sunday. Arizona is 21-18 on the road, and 9-4 against National League Central teams.

The Cardinals have won two of three, all in Cincinnati and come in with a record of 36-42, 9.5 games out of first place, and 3.0 games out of second place. The Cardinals are 17-19 at home, and 6-9 against NL West teams.

The Diamondbacks are going to throw three tough pitchers in a row at the Cardinals in the first three games of the series. In Game One, Brandon Webb, last years Cy Young award winner, will face Braden Looper, who just came off the disabled list. Webb comes in with a record of 8-5 and a 3.05 ERA, coming off 7 solid innings in a 2-0 win over the LA Dodgers in his last start. Looper is 6-6 with a 4.66 ERA, and he has not pitched since a 14-3 loss to Oakland on June 15th. Albert is 3-15 in his career against Webb for a .200BA. He has struck out twice and walked once. In those three hits, two were singles and one was a double.

In Game Two, the Cardinals will face lefthander Randy Johnson. The Cardinals will counter with Todd Wellemeyer. Johnson is 6-6 in his career against the Cardinals, and 4-3 with a 3.81 ERA during the 2007 season. In his last outing June 28th against the Dodgers, the Unit only lasted 3 innings, giving up 6 hits and 4 runs, in a 9-5 loss. Randy has struggled to pitch more than 6 innings this season. Wellemeyer is 2-0, with a 4.11 ERA, and in his last three starts, he has received no decisions, going 6, 5 and 3.1 innings in those three starts. The Cardinals have won 9 of his last 10 starts. Pujols has had some success against the Big Unit, going 7-17 for a .412 batting average, including 3 doubles, 2 homeruns, and 7 rbi’s. Albert has never walked, and struck out three times while facing Johnson.

In Game Three, on Wednesday, the fourth of July, Livan Hernandez will throw for the Diamondbacks and be opposed by Brad Thompson of the Cardinals. Livan is 5-5 in his career against the Cardinals, and 5-5 with a 4.58 for the 2007 season. Livan went 8 innings last week in a no decision, in a game the Diamondbacks won 4-3. Livan has not picked up a win since May 27 against Houston. Thompson is 6-3 on the season with a 4.88 ERA. Last week against the Reds, Brad went 6 innings, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs, picking up a no decision in a game the Cardinals won 4-2. Pujols is batting a career .308 against Livan, 8 hits in 26 at bats. Albert has hit one homerun, and drove home 2 in those 26 at bats. He has walked four times, while striking out five.

In Game Four, on Thursday, Doug Davis will pitch for the Diamondbacks, and be opposed by Cardinals righthander Adam Wainwright. Davis is 5-9 with a 4.29 in 2007, while Wainwright is 6-7, with a 4.81 ERA. Pujols comes into Thursday’s game with a .348 career batting average against Davis. In Albert’s 23 at bats, he has 8 hits, including 4 doubles, 2 homeruns, and 8 rbi’s. Davis has walked him 7 times, while only getting him to strike out twice.

All four of these games are evening games. Monday and Tuesday’s games will start at 7:10pm CST, while Wednesday and Thursday are set to begin at 6:15pm CST. While the Cardinals and Diamondbacks battle, the front running Brewers will square off for four games in Pittsburgh with the Pirates, while second place Chicago travels to the nation’s capital to play the Nationals in a four game set.