Jason Marquis takes the mound for the Cardinals on Wednesday night, trying to guarantee a series win and even St. Louis' season ledger with San Diego.

Marquis will be aiming to become the fourth Cards hurler with at least 10 wins this year. The right-hander struggled his last time out, allowing seven runs in four innings, but overall he's pitched in bad luck lately. Over Marquis' last five starts, he's allowed three runs or fewer four times but has gone just 1-2. The spacious dimensions of the Friars' new downtown ballpark should allow him to pitch aggressively and rely heavily on his sinking fastball.

His opponent will be the tough Jake Peavy, he of the five strikeouts for every walk allowed. Peavy was roughed up in his last start, against the Mets at Shea Stadium, and in fact he's had three iffy games in his last five. But he remains as nasty as just about any right-hander in the National League, and he won't be much fun to face.

St. Louis leads the National League Central by 10 1/2 games over the surging Astros and 12 1/2 over the Cubs. The Padres have lost eight straight games but remain atop the NL West despite an even .500 record.

Pitching matchup:
STL: RHP Jason Marquis
• 9-7, 3.88 ERA in 2005
• 1-0, 6.00 vs. SD in 2005

SD: RHP Jake Peavy
• 8-4, 3.42 ERA in 2005
• Has not faced STL in 2005

Player to watch
Albert Pujols is at his best, it seems, against the game's best pitchers -- and that includes Peavy. Pujols is 4-for-7 with two walks, a double and a home run against the Padres' right-hander.

Quotable
"The young kids coming up, John Rodriguez, you see what he's done. Hopefully John Gall can come up and fill in nicely, and myself and Yadi [Molina] and Reggie [Sanders] and Scotty [Rolen] won't be missed." -- Larry Walker

On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• STL: FSN Midwest
• SD: Channel 4, Cablemas

On radio
• STL: KMOX 1120
• SD: XPRS, XEMO (Español)

Quick hits
Jason Isringhausen's next save will give him sole possession of second place on the Cardinals' all-time saves list. ... Pujols is slugging .800 after the All-Star break. ... Mark Grudzielanek is hitting .349 since the break. ... Marquis is batting .353 and slugging .549. ... The Cardinals are even with their 2004 pace after 99 games.

On deck
• Thursday: at Padres, 2:35 p.m. CT
• Friday: at Dodgers, 9:40 p.m. CT
• Saturday: at Dodgers, 3:10 p.m. CT