At Minute Maid Park, Houston

Scouting report: The Astros are returning from a 10-day trip, during which they went 6-4, including a four-game sweep at Philadelphia. Surging Houston is 15-11 this month, and the only NL teams with more wins are all in the race for a playoff berth. ... Houston took a 2.08 team ERA into its final game of the trip, and the starting pitchers had a 2.17 ERA in the previous 17 games. ... The Cardinals, who are 5-7 vs. Houston this season, will not face nemesis Bud Norris in this series as the Mets ended his four-game winning streak Sunday. ... This series will feature two of the top-hitting rookies, with Houston's Chris Johnson (.329) and the Cardinals' Jon Jay (.330). Johnson supplanted Pedro Feliz at third base for Houston, leading to Feliz's trade to the Cardinals. This will be his first game against the Astros since the trade. ... Former Cardinals farmhand Brett Wallace is batting .184 with five RBIs in 26 games with Houston.

Projected pitching matchups

Tonight, 7:05: Jake Westbrook (1-2, 4.06) vs. J.A. Happ (4-2, 3.45)

Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.: Chris Carpenter (14-4, 2.93) vs. Wandy Rodriguez (10-12, 3.87)

Wednesday, 1:05 p.m.: Jeff Suppan (1-6, 5.72) vs. Nelson Figueroa (3-2, 2.77)

Derrick Goold