With a home record of 7-2 in the short season to date, the St. Louis Cardinals are in a position to sweep the visiting New York Mets on Thursday afternoon and in the process, extend their 2009 mark at Busch to eight wins in ten games.
In a match-up of a pair of veterans, Kyle Lohse takes on Livan Hernandez.
Though Livan has an extensive record against the Cardinals, it preceded most of the current St. Louis players. Only Albert Pujols has a decent number of at-bats, but he has struggled at times, with five strikeouts in 31 career ABs facing Livan. Chris Duncan and Brendan Ryan join Pujols with home runs against Hernandez.
| Hernandez | G/Starts | IP | W-L | ERA | WHIP | OBA |
| Career vs. StL | 16/16 | 112 1/3 | 5-5 | 4.33 | 1.42 | 0.267 |
| 2008 vs. StL | 0/0 | |||||
| Career at Busch (new) | 2/2 | 14 | 0-0 | 1.93 | 1.21 | 0.245 |
| Career at Busch (old) | 7/7 | 48 2/3 | 3-1 | 4.44 | 1.46 | 0.274 |
| Start ’em | ||||||
| Chris Duncan | 2-for-3 (.667) | 1HR | ||||
| Ryan Ludwick | 1-for-4 (.250) | 1K | ||||
| Albert Pujols | 9-for-31 (.290) | 1HR, 4BB, 5K | ||||
| Brendan Ryan | 2-for-3 (.667) | 1HR | ||||
| Skip Schumaker | 1-for-1 (1.000) | |||||
| Sit ’em | ||||||
| Khalil Greene | 3-for-20 (.150) | 1HR, 1BB, 2K | ||||
| Jason LaRue | 2-for-13 (.154) | 1BB, 5K | ||||
| Yadier Molina | 2-for-11 (.182) |
On the other side, it doesn’t look great at first blush. The Mets have been a problem for Lohse over time, including last season. At least his home record is good. Note that each of the six Mets hitters with nine or more at-bats has at least one home run off Lohse. Carlos Beltran has four.
| Lohse | G/Starts | IP | W-L | ERA | WHIP | OBA |
| Career vs. NYM | 6/6 | 32 1/3 | 1-2 | 5.57 | 1.61 | 0.307 |
| 2008 vs. NYM | 2/2 | 12 | 1-1 | 5.25 | 1.58 | 0.333 |
| Career at Busch | 23/23 | 154 | 11-3 | 3.04 | 1.09 | 0.239 |
| Start ’em | ||||||
| Carlos Beltran | 18-for-34 (.529) | 4HR, 9BB, 5K | ||||
| Ryan Church | 5-for-11 (.455) | 1HR, 1BB, 1K | ||||
| Carlos Delgado | 7-for-17 (.412) | 1HR, 5BB, 4K | ||||
| Jose Reyes | 4-for-14 (.286) | 1HR | ||||
| Gary Sheffield | 3-for-9 (.333) | 1HR, 1BB | ||||
| David Wright | 6-for-14 (.429) | 1HR, 4K | ||||
| Sit ’em | ||||||
| none |