St. Louis, MO (My Sportsbook) - Matt Morris aims for his 17th win of the season this evening, when the St. Louis Cardinals welcome the Milwaukee Brewers to town for the first contest of a four-game series at Busch Stadium.

Morris suffered his ninth loss of the year in his last trip to the rubber, permitting six runs -- four earned -- on nine hits over six innings against the Houston Astros. He walked one and struck out four, while giving up one home run.

The setback was the righthander's second in as many outings, with both coming against the Astros. During that period, he has surrendered a total of 11 runs -- 10 earned -- on 18 hits over 9 2/3 innings to watch his earned run average climb from 3.25 to 3.50. Morris is hoping to avoid tying his career-high skid of three in a row, set from June 4 to August 8, 2000. This will be the 28- year-old hurler's 18th start of the season at home, where he is 7-5 with one complete game and a 3.99 ERA.

For his career, Morris is 7-2 versus Milwaukee. He has faced the Brewers two times in 2002, going 1-1 with a 2.25 earned run average.

Ben Diggins counters for the Brew Crew. Diggins was tagged with the loss in his last trip to the slate after surrendering three runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings against the San Francisco Giants. He walked three and fanned four, while yielding a pair of round-trippers.

This will be the righthander's fifth career outing. He is still searching for his first career win and is yet to allow less than three runs in a start. The 24-year-old Diggins was acquired from the Dodgers, along with reliever Shane Nance, earlier this season for utilityman Tyler Houston. Rated Los Angeles' fourth-best prospect by Baseball America at the start of the 2002 campaign, Diggins was 2-1 with a 1.91 earned run average in seven outings for Double-A Huntsville before being promoted to the big club.

Diggins faced the Cardinals for the first time on September 9 and was charged with the loss after permitting three runs on six hits in seven frames of work. He walked two and struck out seven.

Milwaukee has dropped five of its last six following a 7-5 loss to the Astros on Wednesday. Richie Sexson hit a two-run homer and Keith Ginter added a pair of hits, two runs scored and one RBI for the Brewers, who are one game behind the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the worst record in baseball.

Jose Hernandez added a hit and an RBI, while also avoiding a strikeout for the second straight game. Hernandez, with 188 whiffs, is just one strikeout away from tying Bobby Bonds' 32-year-old record for strikeouts in a season. Bonds fanned 189 times in 1970.

Valerio De Los Santos absorbed the loss, surrendering three runs on two hits in just two-thirds of an inning.

St. Louis, meanwhile, completed a three-game sweep of the defending champion Arizona Diamondbacks with a 6-1 win on Wednesday. Scott Rolen and J.D. Drew both hit three-run homers for the Cardinals, who have won 18 of their last 21 games.

Garrett Stephenson tossed five scoreless innings for the win, allowing one hit with five walks and a pair of strikeouts.

The Cardinals lead the season series by a 7-6 margin, including four wins in six tries at home. They are 24-18 in this matchup since the start of the 2000 campaign.

The Brewers are tied with the San Diego Padres for the worst road record in the National League at 24-53, while the Cardinals bring a 49-28 home mark into this contest.