St. Louis, MO (My Sportsbook) - The battle between two of the National League's playoff teams continues tonight in St. Louis, where the Cardinals look to win their third straight and seventh game in eight tries in the second of a three-game series against the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks.

In Monday's opener, Eli Marrero finished 4-for-6 and keyed a 10-run seventh inning with a three-run double as the Cardinals pounded the Diamondbacks, 13-1. Albert Pujols was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI for the Cardinals, who have already won the National Central Division title and will likely face Arizona when the NLDS gets underway next week.

Junior Spivey hit a solo homer for the Diamondbacks, who have lost four straight. Arizona still needs one win to clinch a postseason berth and has a magic number of three to seal the NL West over San Francisco. The D'backs are four games ahead of the Giants and six games in front of Los Angeles with just six contests remaining for each team.

Arizona received bad news in the fourth inning when All-Star leftfielder Luis Gonzalez left the game with a separated left shoulder. He is expected to miss tonight's game.

Jamey Wright (7-13) allowed one run on three hits in five innings for the win. Rick Helling (9-12) was dealt the loss, yielding three runs in five frames.

The Cardinals made it a laugher in the seventh inning, scoring 10 runs to grab a 13-1 advantage. St. Louis brought 14 hitters to the plate and scored all the runs on nine straight two-out hits.

Pujols has 126 RBI this season, placing him two behind Houston's Lance Berkman for the NL lead. He is four RBI away from becoming the first player since Joe DiMaggio to have 260 RBI in his first two seasons.

Andy Benes gets the call tonight for the Cardinals, looking to continue his recent stretch of success. The righthander has gone 2-0 in his last four starts and is 4-1 in his last seven trips to the hill. In his last four starts, he has yielded seven runs through 25 1/3 innings. On Wednesday, he surrendered one run on six hits over six innings in an 8-5 win at Colorado. The Cardinals are 4-0 in his last four starts.

Benes lost his only start against Arizona this season. On April 15 he surrendered three earned runs on six hits over three innings in a 14-5 loss. Lifetime, he is 0-2 with a 6.75 versus the D'backs. In six starts at home, he is 2-2 with a 3.67 ERA.

The Diamondbacks counter with rookie John Patterson for tonight's start. Manager Bob Brenly had a choice whether to start Armando Reynoso or Patterson, but Reynoso pitched in Saturday's game in Denver.

Patterson, a 6-foot-5 righthander, makes his fourth career start tonight. He has allowed eight earned runs in his 16 2/3 innings as a starter. In his last start, he was ripped for seven runs on 10 hits over just 3 1/3 innings in a 12-7 win at New York. He has made two relief appearances since.

On September 13, he worked one scoreless inning in an 8-4 loss to Milwaukee. He has never faced St. Louis.

The season series is tied 2-2. Arizona is 43-36 on the road this season, including 2-5 on a current nine-game trip, while St. Louis brings a 47-28 home record into this contest.