Houston at St. Louis 8:15 p.m. ET

St. Louis (77-70) earned a split of a four-game series in Los Angeles this past weekend to move a game ahead of the Dodgers for the second NL wild-card berth, winning 5-2 in 12 innings Sunday. 

While the Astros (48-99) are in danger of surpassing the franchise record of 106 losses set last year, they've won six of 10 after taking three of four from Philadelphia, which came to town with a seven-game winning streak. 

Houston is on the verge of winning three in a row for the first time since a four-game run May 21-25. 

St. Louis, though, has won five straight in the series and eight of 10 meetings at Busch Stadium after a three-game sweep Aug. 21-23. 

The Cardinals will try to continue that success with help from Kyle Lohse (14-3, 2.81 ERA). The right-hander has given up three or fewer runs in 17 of his past 19 starts but had an eight-game win streak snapped with a 3-2 loss to San Diego on Wednesday. 

He allowed three runs over six innings while striking out eight. 

Lohse has gone 3-1 with a 2.00 ERA in his last four starts against Houston, and 5-2 with a 2.06 ERA in seven home matchups with the Astros since signing with St. Louis before the 2008 season, in which he won a career-high 15 games. 

The Astros will send out Fernando Abad (0-4, 5.08) for his fifth career start, all since joining the rotation in late August. The left-hander gave up one run in 3 1-3 innings against Chicago on Wednesday and suffered a 5-1 defeat. 

Plagued by high pitch counts in all of his starts, Abad has not pitched more than 4 1-3 innings in any of them and has taken the loss each time. 

St. Louis first baseman Allen Craig is riding a 10-game hit streak and has gone 7 for 19 with six RBIs in his last four contests. He's a career .439 hitter against the Astros and has batted .462 in eight all-time matchups at home. 

Astros are 10-42 in their last 52 road games vs. a right-handed starter.

Astros are 5-21 in their last 26 games following a win.

Astros are 10-43 in their last 53 road games.

Astros are 10-43 in their last 53 games as a road underdog.

Astros are 0-4 in Abads last 4 starts as an underdog.

Astros are 0-4 in Abads last 4 starts with the total set at 7.0-8.5.

Astros are 0-4 in Abads last 4 starts.

Cardinals are 12-2 in their last 14 home games vs. a left-handed starter.
Cardinals are 12-2 in their last 14 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400.
Cardinals are 4-1 in their last 5 games following an off day.
Cardinals are 1-5 in their last 6 games following a win.
Cardinals are 0-5 in their last 5 games vs. a left-handed starter.
Cardinals are 6-0 in Lohses last 6 Tuesday starts.
Cardinals are 4-1 in Lohses last 5 starts vs. National League Central.
Cardinals are 14-4 in Lohses last 18 home starts vs. a team with a losing record
Cardinals are 16-5 in Lohses last 21 starts as a home favorite.
Cardinals are 6-2 in Lohses last 8 home starts.

Under is 6-1 in Lohses last 7 home starts vs. Astros.

Over is 10-2-1 in the last 13 meetings.

Cardinals are 5-2 in Lohses last 7 home starts vs. Astros.

Under is 35-17-2 in the last 54 meetings in St. Louis.

Astros are 2-8 in the last 10 meetings in St. Louis.

Astros are 0-5 in the last 5 meetings.

We all know how bad the Astros are. We all watched them win 3 of 4 at home vs Philly. We all lost money on that series. But, we also know the Cardinals are better then Philly and Lohse is one of the most dominant pitchers in MLB today. This guy is stone cold and rock solid. Cardinals will beat these guys down tonight as long as Abad is on the mound....which wont be too long. Going to hammer the 1H and the RL. I seriously dont see the Astros even getting a run in tonight so we're also playing the Astros TT under 3 as a smaller play. Good Luck

ASTROS TT u3-120
1H STL CARDINALS -½-170
STL CARDINALS -1½-135

Follow me on Twitter @LSUSports1