=== St. Louis Cardinals Team Report - September 8 ===

(My Sportsbook) - The St. Louis Cardinals put their sights on their 11th win in 12 games this afternoon, as they finish up a three-game set versus the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park.

St. Louis owns the best record (93-45) in the majors, while sitting 17 1/2 games ahead of second place Chicago in the NL Central. The last time the Cardinals held a lead that large was over Pittsburgh on September 2, 1944.

The Cardinals dwindled their magic number to nine on Tuesday, as they posted a 4-2 win over San Diego and Chicago lost to Montreal.

Roger Cedeno drove in two runs to lead the Cardinals to the victory. Edgar Renteria finished 2-for-4 with a run batted in and a run scored for the NL Central-leading Cardinals.

Jeff Suppan picked up the win with five innings of two-run ball. Suppan (15-6) allowed five hits with three strikeouts and five walks.

Jason Isringhausen took the mound in the bottom of the ninth to close it out for the Cardinals. He allowed a one-out triple to Sean Burroughs, but fanned Ramon Vazquez and induced a pop out from Brian Giles to record his 40th save.

St. Louis will have veteran righthander Matt Morris on the hill today. Morris has won three straight starts and hasn't suffered a loss since August 12 against Florida. The Middletown, NY native went the distance against Los Angeles last Thursday, allowing just two hits while fanning 11 and not walking anyone. In his last four starts, Morris has struck out 28 and permitted just five free passes.

Morris has faced the Padres 10 times in his career, registering 4-0 mark with a 1.23 ERA.

St. Louis is 45-22 on the road this year.

St. Louis has dominated this series, going 27-5 versus San Diego since the start of the 2000 season.