The Colorado Rockies will start a tough series against the St. Louis Cardinals tonight at Coors Field. After their loss last night to the Padres, the Rockies have a 3.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the wild card race. The San Francisco Giants and Florida Marlins are 4 games back. Every game the Rockies play for the rest of the season will be a must win. The Rockes start the series with a record of 86-67. Aaron Cook is back and will be making his first start since going on the disabled list.  Huston Street came back earlier in the week, taking over for Franklin Morales as closer.

The Cardinals on the other hand, are easily in the lead for the NL Central and only need 1 win to clinch the division title. This would sound like good news for the Rockies, but St. Louis can still get home field advantage in the playoffs. For that to happen, they would have to overcome a 3 game lead by the Los Angeles Angels. It looks like the Cardinals will be playing to win every game as each loss makes it tougher to catch the Dodgers. The Cardinals come to Denver with a record of 89-64. Obviously, the have Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols and great starting pitching. The Cardinals will have two Cy Young candidates pitching against the Rockies.

The last time the Rockies and Cardinals played, the Rockies swept the series in St. Louis. That was a long time ago and both teams have changed a lot. The series this weekend will be key for both teams playoff chances. The Rockies are trying to get in and St. Louis wants to get home field advantage. With the pitching matchups, this series could be a very close one. Here's some notes about the playoff race and the Rockies vs Cardinals pitching matchups:

NL West                                                        Wild Card                                                     National League Lead
Los Angeles Dodgers 92-61                    Colorado Rockies 86-67                           Los Angeles Dodgers 92-61
Colorado Rockies 86-67 (6)                     Atlanta Braves 82-70 (3)                            Philadelphia Phillies 89-63 (2.5)
San Francisco Giants  82-71 (10)           San Francisco Giants 82-71 (4)               St. Louis Cardinals 89-64 (3)
San Diego Padres 71-83 (21)                  Florida Marlins 82-71 (4)                           Colorado Rockies 86-67 (6)
Arizona Diamondbacks 66-87 (26)         Chicago Cubs 79-73 (6.5)

Key Matchups: Giants vs Cubs / Dodgers vs Pirates / Marlins vs Mets / Braves vs Nationals

Pitching Matchups:

              Friday, September 25th                                Saturday, September 26th                                  Sunday, September 27th

Aaron Cook	vs	Chris Carpenter		Ubaldo Jimenez	vs	Adam Wainwright	Jorge De La Rosa	vs	Kyle Lohse
10-6		16-4		14-11		18-8	15-9		6-8
4.47 ERA		2.34 ERA		3.47 ERA		2.59 ERA	4.42 ERA		2.59 ERA
75 Strikeouts		136 Strikeouts		181 Strikeouts		193 Strikouts	181 Strikeouts		68 Strikouts