Jeff Gordon previews tonight's St. Louis Cardinals-Chicago Cubs game at Busch Stadium (7:15 p.m., FSM):
THE STAKES: The Cubs are trying to sweep the moribund Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Normally that would get a rise out of The Home Team, but these guys have been finished for a couple weeks now.
PITCHING FOR THE CARDINALS: Chris Carpenter (15-6, 3.09 ERA): He is 1-1 with a 3.30 ERA in three starts against the Cubs this season.
The key Cubs have hit him well in their careers: Aramis Ramirez (17 for 54, four doubles, two homers, four RBIs), Alfonso Soriano (13 for 39, double, two homers, seven RBIs) and Marlon Byrd (7 for 19, double).
PITCHING FOR THE CUBS: Carlos Zambrano (8-6, 3.88 ERA): Manager Lou Piniella tried to run this guy out of Chicago, but now Lou is lone gone and the Big Z is pitching well. Zambrano was 3-0 with a 2.23 ERA in August and he is 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA in September. He has 17 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings this month.
Brendan Ryan and Colby Rasmus are each 1 for 10 against Zambrano in their careers. On the other hand, Felipe Lopez (14 for 42, two doubles, triple, two homers, seven RBIs), Skip Schumaker (11 for 32, two doubles, triple, homer) and Randy Winn (7 for 15, two doubles, homer) have hit him well.
LINEUP INTRIGUE: Albert Pujols took Tuesday off after taking a cortisone shot in his sore elbow. Slumping Felipe Lopez started in his place and delivered an 0-for-4 performance in the No. 2 hole.
Colby Rasmus (2 for 4, homer, two runs scored) and Brendan Ryan (1 for 3, stolen base) continued working toward better things in 2011. Matt Holliday stroked an RBI double and Yadier Molina got two more hits, but otherwise the lineup offered little to discuss.
BULLPEN INTRIGUE: Fernando Salas got tagged for a couple runs in his mop-up assignment, pushing his season ERA to 2.55. But at least he managed to limit the damage and escape the inning without help.
DOWN ON THE FARM: Infielder Donovan Solano continued his hot hitting, but it wasn't enough to lift Memphis to victory in the opening game of the Pacific Coast League playoffs.
Solano went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, but Tacoma beat the Redbirds 5-3.
After hitting just .138 in April and .197 in May, Solano finally came to life at the Triple-A level. He hit .341 after the All-Star break and .371 in August.
Solano was signed out of Colombia in 2005. He hit .286 at Class A Palm Beach in 2008 and split last season between Double-A Springfield and Memphis -- where he hit .317 for the PCL champions.
"It's fun for me to come back to the roster," Solano told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "I get an opportunity to play in the playoffs. I had two at-bats last year. I want to do the best I can do. At the start of the season, I lost my way. I don't know what happened. After the All-Star break, I had to find my swing. Right now, I feel better. I want another ring. I want another championship."
