Cardinals try to bounce back in battle with Brewers

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08/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - August is Albert Pujols' month to shine, and the St. Louis Cardinals hope the consistent slugger can help get them back into first place.

Looking to snap a two-game losing streak, St. Louis welcomes the Milwaukee Brewers to town for a quick two-game set at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals swept the Reds in three games early last week to take a one-game lead for the top spot in the National League Central, but after winning Friday's opener with the Cubs, St. Louis lost the final two games of that set to fall a game back of Cincinnati in the division race.

Sunday's 9-7 loss wasn't as close as it looked, as the Cardinals trailed the Cubs by seven runs heading into the ninth. Though they plated five runs in the final frame, they were unable to complete the comeback.

Pujols and Steven Hill both hit solo homers in the setback, with Pujols extending his own major league record of consecutive seasons of at least 30 home runs to 10 campaigns.

"Three things he's the most famous for, which are 30 home runs, 100 RBI and .300 [batting average], that's the least remarkable thing about Albert," said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. "He's a line drive hitter who hits home runs -- 30 line drives go out of the park. The most remarkable thing about Albert is that over 162 games, he hits .300 and drives in 100 runs."

Pujols is batting .440 with six homers and 14 RBI in 12 games this month, and is a lifetime .347 hitter in August with 76 homers and 207 RBI in 258 games.

The Cardinals, who are just a half-game back in the NL Wild Card race as well, turn tonight to Jaime Garcia, who has pitched to a 6.06 earned run average over his last three games but is coming off a win over the Reds last Tuesday.

The 24-year-old southpaw allowed four runs on two hits and five walks over 5 1/3 innings of an 8-4 triumph, improving to 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA on the season. The young hurler is also 4-2 with a 1.94 ERA in 10 starts at Busch Stadium this year.

Garcia has faced the Brewers three times this year and is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA.

Milwaukee comes into this set having lost five of seven, including a 6-5 setback in Sunday's rubber match of a three-game series at Colorado. Milwaukee scored two runs in the ninth inning to tie it, with Corey Hart's wind-blown pop-up evading Rockies second baseman Clint Barmes to score both runs, but Trevor Hoffman allowed a two-out run-scoring single to Troy Tulowitzki in the bottom of the inning.

"All three games [of the series] ended in the last at-bat for each team that won, so I guess that all makes it interesting," said Brewers manager Ken Macha.

Rickie Weeks was a perfect 4-for-4 with a run scored at the plate for Milwaukee, while Prince Fielder had a two-run single and Ryan Braun contributed three hits to the loss.

Dave Bush draws the starting assignment for the Brewers tonight and is 0-2 over his last three starts, allowing 15 earned runs over 16 1/3 innings.

Bush matched the wrong kind of history Wednesday versus Arizona, as he became just the third pitcher to allow four straight homers, doing so over 10 pitches in the fourth inning of an 8-2 setback.

"You just try to forget about it. Try to move on," said Bush, who also tied a major league record for most homers allowed in an inning while joining former Yankee Chase Wright (2007) and Angel Paul Foytack (1963) as the hurlers to do so in four straight batters.

The 30-year-old Bush fell to 5-10 with a 4.78 ERA this year after his 5 1/3- inning stint versus Arizona.

Bush is 2-6 with a 6.40 ERA in his career versus the Cardinals. He faced them back on April 9, allowing three runs over 5 2/3 frames of a no-decision, and also opposed them in relief as well during this season.

The Cardinals have won 15 of their last 24 versus the Brewers.

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LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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