Padres begin their three-game series in St. Louis tonight. The pitching matchups slightly favor the Pads, but the Cards have scored 87 more runs this year than the Friars in the same number of games. St. Louis is averaging 5.35 runs per game.

Can the Padres’ bats keep up with the Cards’ offense? The 4.68 runs per game scored by the Padres this year would indicate no. But the 5.21 they score on the road and the 5.52 they’ve averaged since the All-Star break say maybe.

Tonight’s is the most even matchup, with Brian Lawrence (13-10, 3.65) going against former Friar Woody Williams (9-7, 4.07). Wednesday it’s Adam Eaton (9-11, 4.72) and the surprising Chris Carpenter (13-5, 3.61). Thursday Jake Peavy (11-3, 2.25) squares off against Jeff Suppan (13-6, 4.02). Figure that one’s in the Pads’ favor. Counting on the good Adam Eaton to show up for any given game is a dicey proposition, so tonight is critical. Lawrence has allowed just one run over his past two starts, both complete games. Of course, facing the Marlins and Mets isn’t exactly the same as going up against the likes of Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Larry Walker, Edgar Renteria, and company.

Attendance Matters

The players may not have fully embraced Petco Park just yet, but the fans have:

Year  Pct Cap  Rnk   Per Game  Rnk
----------------------------------
2001    44.8    26    29,726    18
2002    41.3    25    27,414    17
2003    39.2    28    25,062    19

2004    88.9     7    37,325     9

Perhaps not the most relevant piece of information now that the Padres are on the road, but interesting nonetheless.

Lawrence and Williams tonight at Busch. Usual channel, 5 PM start—plenty of time to catch the last four or five innings.