Sports Network) - The St. Louis Cardinals aim for two straight victories today when they host the San Francisco Giants in the middle test of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Matt Morris will take the ball for the Giants this afternoon and he hopes his second outing against his former team goes better than the first.

Morris was a first-round pick of the Cardinals in 1995 and spent his entire career with St. Louis before signing with the Giants as a free agent in the offseason. He faced the Cards back on May 23 and was dealt the loss after giving up six runs -- four earned -- over six innings. Today's start will be his first at St. Louis' new Busch Stadium.

The 32-year-old right-hander has lost his last two starts and was rocked for six runs and 11 hits in five innings against the Padres last Saturday.

Chris Carpenter, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, will get the call for the Cardinals today.

Carpenter is 14-6 with a league-leading 2.84 ERA and turned in a terrific outing Monday against Houston. The right-hander tossed a six-hit shutout against the Astros and struck out six batters in the process.

The 31-year-old native of Exeter, New Hampshire has three career starts against the Giants and is 1-0 with a 3.57 ERA in those tests.

The Cardinals earned an easy victory in Friday's opener against the Giants. Scott Rolen homered twice and drove in seven runs as St. Louis pounded San Francisco, 14-4.

Chris Duncan also hit a pair of homers and Albert Pujols knocked in two runs for the Cardinals, who now lead Cincinnati by 5 1/2 games in the National League Central. Jeff Suppan (12-7) allowed three runs on eight hits in seven innings of work.

Jason Schmidt was scratched before the game with a strain in his upper back. Brad Hennessey (5-5) took his place and was saddled with the loss after yielding six runs on five hits in just two innings.

Pedro Feliz and Kevin Frandsen each homered for the Giants, who dropped to 2 1/2 games back of National League wild card leader San Diego.

The Cardinals took two of three games against San Francisco from May 22-24. They are 8-3 in their last 11 matchups with the Giants.