Starting Five: Cardinals, Dodgers Keep Going in Opposite Directions

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Cardinals took the rubber game, 3-2, in a potential playoff preview, sending the sliding Dodgers back toward the pack in the NL West. If the season ended with the standings as they were after Wednesday's game, the Cardinals and Dodgers would meet in the division series.

Actually, the Dodgers would love for the season to be over now, because their lead is looking a bit more tenuous. After the Dodgers lost for the eighth time in their past 12 games, their lead over the Rockies shrunk to 3 1/2 games, the smallest it's been since May 1. Now they've turned to Vicente Padilla for help.

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The Cardinals are going the other way. They have won 16 of 21, a streak that started by taking three of four from the Dodgers in St. Louis last month.

Adam Wainwright, who gave up two runs in seven innings to continue his darkhorse push for the Cy Young, wasn't around when the Cardinals snapped a ninth-inning tie with a run created by the players you'd expect in a manner you wouldn't. Albert Pujols walked, stole second and went to third on a bad throw by catcher Russell Martin. Matt Holliday then drove in Pujols with a sacrifice fly.

From The Trainer's Room ...
Tigers lefty Dontrelle Willis may have more to worry about than just anxiety now. Willis left Wednesday night's rehab start at Triple-A Toledo in the second inning with what was described as a knee injury. Willis has been on the disabled list twice this year because of an anxiety disorder.

Numbers Game ...
Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez had six homers in his first 130 big-league games, and then hit six more in the next eight. Gonzalez went deep in his fourth consecutive game on Wednesday. Gonzalez has only four hits in the past eight games other than the homers.

In Their Own Words ...
"I don't know how special it is. It's me doing what I expect to do every time I go out to the mound. I expect to put up a zero every inning." -- Phillies lefty Cliff Lee, who pitched a two-hitter to beat the Diamondbacks on Wednesday. Lee is 4-0 with an 0.82 ERA in four starts since the Phillies acquired him from the Indians.

Advance Scouting...
Marlins' right-hander Josh Johnson takes the ball for the first time since carrying a no-hitter into the seventh against the Rockies, this time facing the Astros (8:05 PM ET) in Houston. Since Johnson returned from Tommy John surgery last July, he's 18-3. The Astros will counter with Wandy Rodriguez, who is looking to bounce back from allowing 10 runs the last time out. Prior to that, he had been 6-0 with a 1.35 ERA in July.