Astros  0    Cardinals  1

Houston Astros (61-63) at St. Louis Cardinals (72-54), 8:15 p.m.

Sports Network | August 25, 2009

(Sports Network) - Adam Wainwright shoots for his National League-leading 15th win of the season tonight, when the St. Louis Cardinals kick off a nine-game homestand with the first of three straight games versus the Houston Astros at Busch Stadium.

Wainwright is 6-2 in his last eight decisions and did not factor in the outcome of a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers the last time out on August 19. He allowed two runs in seven innings and is 14-7 with a 2.61 ERA in 26 trips to the mound this season.

The right-hander is 6-1 with a 2.17 ERA in 14 career games (8 starts) against the Astros.

St. Louis leads the NL Central by eight games over the Chicago Cubs and has won two straight, four of five and 13 of its last 16 games. In Sunday's 5-2 victory over San Diego in the finale of a four-game series at Petco Park, John Smoltz pitched five scoreless innings of three-hit ball in his Cardinals debut and struck out nine without walking a batter. Ryan Franklin recorded his 32nd save of the season with a scoreless ninth.

"He was like he's been throughout his career," said St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa about Smoltz. "He commanded his pitches well and was putting them where he wanted them.

Albert Pujols hit his 40th home run of the season and Ryan Ludwick drove in a pair of runs for the Cardinals, who will also host Washington and Milwaukee on the homestand.

Houston is 9 1/2 games off the NL Wild Card lead and will begin a nine-game road trip Tuesday against the Cardinals, Diamondbacks and Cubs. It had a four- game winning streak stopped after Sunday's 7-5 setback versus Arizona in the finale of a three-game series, as Jason Michaels and Humberto Quintero both homered in a losing effort.

Lance Berkman knocked in a pair of runs and starter Bud Norris lasted just one inning, allowing six runs and six hits for the loss.

"Tough loss, very difficult. I thought Bud kind of overthrew. When you try to throw harder, you don't throw hard," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said.

Wandy Rodriguez gets the nod for Cooper's club on Tuesday and he is 7-1 in his previous 11 starts. Rodriguez bounced back from a rough outing the last time out on August 20 versus Florida, as he tossed eight solid innings and allowed only one unearned run in a 4-1 triumph.

Rodriguez was rocked for 10 hits and 10 runs in four innings of an 11-2 loss at Milwaukee on August 14. He is 12-7 with a 2.89 earned run average in 25 starts this season and 3-7 with a 3.73 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) against St. Louis. The lefty is 1-1 in three starts in this series this season.

St. Louis has won five of the nine meetings with Houston this season, including a 5-1 ledger at Busch Stadium.