Playoff hopefuls conclude set in South Beach

Baseball Betting Lines

08/14/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have to be frustrated with the way the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers have been playing lately. The Cardinals are four games behind the Brewers in the NL Wild Card standings, but their Central division rivals have ripped off eight straight wins to distance themselves.

St. Louis can only hope for help from other clubs in its quest for a postseason berth and will close out a four-game series this evening against the Florida Marlins at Dolphin Stadium.

The Cardinals have alternated wins and losses over their last six games, having posted a 6-4 victory over Florida on Wednesday behind a solid performance from Troy Glaus, who ended with a game-high four hits and finished with an RBI and a run scored. Jason LaRue knocked in the go-ahead runs with a double in the seventh inning and Skip Schumaker posted three hits in the win.

St. Louis starter Braden Looper earned the win with seven strong innings. The righty only allowed two runs -- one earned -- and five hits while striking out five batters and issuing just one walk. The Cardinals are 3-3 on a 10-game road trip and 34-28 away from Busch Stadium in 2008.

Todd Wellemeyer will be responsible for pitching duties for the Cards on Thursday. Wellemeyer is unbeaten over his past six starts (2-0) and is coming off a solid performance at Chicago's Wrigley Field on August 9.

The right-hander held the rival Cubs to three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 12-3 drubbing. Wellemeyer, though, has allowed two or more runs in seven of his last eight starts.

Wellemeyer, who is 3-0 with a 3.36 ERA in 11 away starts, has made three career relief appearances against Florida, going 0-0 with a 7.36 earned run average in 3 2/3 innings pitched in the series.

Florida is in the midst of a heated race in the National League East division, but haven't been able to capitalize off of division-leading Philadelphia's current woes. The Phillies have lost three in a row to fall into a tie atop the East standings with the New York Mets, while the Marlins are sitting 1 1/2 games off the pace.

In Wednesday's 6-4 loss to St. Louis, Mike Jacobs drove in two runs and both Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu ended with an RBI in defeat. Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco did not factor in the decision after yielding two runs and 10 hits in six innings of work. Renyel Pinto suffered the loss after permitting two runs on two hits.

The Marlins are 1-2 on a seven-game homestand and 34-28 in South Beach this season. They will hand the ball to Scott Olsen on Thursday and hasn't fared too well over his last few outings.

Olsen has dropped three of his last four starts, with a 5.16 earned run average over that stretch. He previously pitched on August 9 against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, allowing five runs and nine hits in five innings of his team's 8-6 defeat.

The left-hander is 1-2 with a 7.00 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals.

St. Louis and Florida are meeting for the first time since the Cardinals won four of six meetings a year ago. St. Louis is 15-7 in this series since the 2005 season, including a 9-3 mark as the visitor.

The Cardinals have won 13 of their last 18 games at Florida.