Coming off strong hitting performance to sweep a three-game series, the Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to get even better offensively Friday night when Rafael Furcal returns to the lineup in the opener of a three-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Dodgers (25-21) are expected to activate Furcal from the disabled list after he missed 14 games with a lower back strain. The switch-hitting shortstop is third in the majors with a .366 batting average, and fourth with a .448 on-base percentage. He also leads Los Angeles with 34 runs and is tied with James Loney with a team-high five homers.
Those outstanding numbers have come after he hit .270 with six homers and a .333 on-base percentage in 2007.
The Dodgers went 7-7, averaged only 3.8 runs without Furcal and hit .253 in the span. Juan Pierre and Chin-Iung Hu struggled replacing him, with Pierre hitting just .232 in the leadoff spot, and Hu -- playing shortstop -- batted only .154.
Los Angeles, though, hit .307 in sweeping a three-game set from Cincinnati. The Dodgers took Wednesday's series finale 5-2 to give them their longest winning streak without Furcal.
Furcal has a .356 batting average and a .401 on-base percentage in 46 games against the Cardinals (28-21). He's also 5-for-9 with a triple against Adam Wainwright (3-2, 3.25 ERA), St. Louis' scheduled starter.
Wainwright has struggled in his last two starts, getting tagged for 12 runs and 20 hits in 11 2-3 innings.
After serving up three home runs at Milwaukee on May 12 en route to his first loss, Wainwright gave up four runs and a career-high 12 hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 9-8, 10-inning win over Tampa Bay on Saturday.
"There were a lot of balls over the middle (Saturday)," Wainwright told the team's official Web site. "I was really battling myself mechanically. I was constantly talking to myself on the mound, telling myself to keep the team in it."
Wainwright, whose last win came on April 26, lost both of his starts versus the Dodgers last season -- his first as a starter in the majors. He was ripped for eight runs in 2 2-3 innings of a 9-7 defeat at Dodger Stadium on May 15, 2007, but was much better against them on Aug. 10 in St. Louis, throwing a six-hitter in a 2-1 loss.
St. Louis has won four of its last five games, hitting .333 with nine homers and 35 runs. The Cardinals matched their season high in runs Wednesday, winning 11-3 at San Diego.
Albert Pujols hopes to shake off a difficult game after he hit a line drive off the face of Padres hurler Chris Young, who suffered a broken nose, in the third inning on Wednesday.
"It was a pretty tough night," admitted Pujols, who went 1-for-5. "After that, I couldn't concentrate on my other at-bats. I kind of had flashbacks thinking about that at-bat."
Later in that third inning, Pujols scored on a slide into home plate, but caught the left leg of catcher Josh Bard, who suffered a sprained ankle.
Pujols has a .333 batting average with 11 homers in 43 games against Los Angeles, but was held to five hits and three RBIs as the teams split six meetings last season.
He is 1-for-6 against Derek Lowe (2-4, 5.34), who takes the mound Thursday seeking his first win since April 23. The right-hander is 0-3 with a 8.54 ERA in his last five starts.
Lowe made an unscheduled start on three days' rest in his last outing. He volunteered to start Sunday because Brad Penny missed his turn in the rotation due to arm stiffness, and that decision did not work out very well. Lowe gave up season highs of seven runs and 10 hits in five innings of a 10-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
"So I volunteered to go out there and I'm happy I did it. Obviously it didn't work out too well," Lowe said. "The whole game was frustrating -- a lot of hits, a lot of hits with men in scoring position."
Lowe is 1-4 with a 5.93 ERA in five starts against the Cardinals.