Author: Matt Pelc | Article Posted at: July 1, 09 - 1:34 pm

St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants

The St. Louis Cardinals need to find a way to win a game soon or risk losing more ground to the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.

The latest to bite the Cardinals (41-38) was the reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, who allowed just two hits in the 6-3 road win for the San Francisco Giants (42-34).

St. Louis has lost three straight and seven of their last nine. They once had a first place lead in their division, but have seen Milwaukee become resurgent and lead the NL Central by two games.

Matt Cain (9-2, 2.57) will try to keep the St. Louis Cardinals woes going while accomplishing a personal goal that has alluded him the last time out.

Cain is trying to become the second pitcher, and second pitcher in two nights after Jason Marquis of the Colorado Rockies won on Tuesday, to win his 10th game of the season. He had the chance to become the first in his last outing, but allowed five runs on six hits in a 5-1 Giants loss to the Brewers on Friday despite striking out nine batters.

The Cardinals are dreading seeing Cain after a loss as he is 7-0 with a 1.87 ERA in nine starts after losses.

St. Louis thought they address their lack of offense behind Albert Pujols when they picked up Mark Derosa from the Cleveland Indians last week, but he has gone 0-for-9 in his return to the National League and has been hampered by a sore wrist.

The Cardinals are hitting .198 and have scored just 13 runs in their last seven games, despite Pujols still hitting his weight in gold, including his third multihomer game in his last 10 on Tuesday.

To stop their skid, Adam Wainwright (8-5, 3.51) will go for St. Louis trying to atone for his first loss since June 5 on Friday when he allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits over seven innings. It was a solid performance, but his offense could not help him out, scoring just one run in the 3-1 setback against the Minnesota Twins.