• When: Today-Thursday, 8:10 p.m. p.m. each day

        • Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis

        • TV: Fox Sports Net today, Tuesday and Thursday

        • Records: Reds 48-68, fifth place in NL Central; Cardinals 61-55, third in NL Central.

        • Probable starting pitchers:

        Today, Elmer Dessens (8-8, 4.59 ERA) vs. Bud Smith (3-1, 2.95)

        Tuesday, Dennys Reyes (1-2, 2.57) vs. Matt Morris (14-7, 3.47)

        Wednesday, Chris Reitsma (5-12, 4.78) vs. Woody Williams (9-8, 4.94)

        Thursday, Jose Acevedo (3-3, 5.43) vs. Dustin Hermanson (10-9, 4.43).

        • The bats: Mark McGwire's last 11 hits have been home runs, including one Sunday against the Mets. If Big Mac stays hot, the Reds will have their hands full as they face the Cardinals in eight of their next 11 games. The Cards' Placido Polanco had a 20-game hitting streak until it ended Sunday. Albert Pujols has a current 13-game hitting streak. Over the course of that streak, Pujols has increased his batting average from .319 to .330.

        • The arms: Today is Bud Smith's seventh major league start and his first vs. the Reds.

        • The rest: The Cardinals have won four games in a row. The last time they won four in a row was June 15-19, when they had a five-game winning streak.

Rijo's return on deck Rockies 7, Reds 6 Soto says thanks Davis keeps ball over the plate Riedling rejoins bullpen Rockies leave hoarse, happy Reds-Cardinals Scouting Report Reds box, runs

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