Philadelphia (40-28) at St. Louis (40-28)

Struggling Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard has a chance to break out at the plate in his hometown of St. Louis. Howard, though, will have to find a way to solve Todd Wellemeyer.

Howard, who has been struggling to give the NL East-leading Phillies some punch in the middle of their vaunted lineup, looks to continue his hot hitting on the road against the Cardinals when the teams open a three-game series Friday night.

Philadelphia (40-28) was nearly swept in a three-game series with Florida, its closest competitor in the NL East, and Howard’s struggles are partly to blame. He went 0-for-12 with four strikeouts in the series, including an 0-for-5 effort Thursday night but the Phillies avoided being swept by beating the Marlins 3-0.

“We didn’t need to get swept,” said Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel, whose team leads Florida by three games.

Howard has 15 home runs, 11 doubles and 49 RBIs, but is hitting .204. The first baseman, though, has always hit well in St. Louis, batting .333 (12-for-36) with three home runs, a double, 11 walks and 14 RBIs in nine games there.

But Howard and the Phillies’ lineup will be facing Wellemeyer (7-1, 2.93 ERA), who is 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA in his last seven starts. Howard walked in his only career plate appearance against Wellemeyer, who had to skip his last start because of elbow inflammation that began in a start at Washington on June 5.

“It feels good right now,” Wellemeyer told the Cardinals’ official Web site. “It feels like it did (before Tuesday). I hope it doesn’t go back to how it felt against Washington, but there’s only one way to find out.”

The right-hander gave up five hits while striking out five in six shutout innings to earn a win as the Cardinals (40-28) beat the Nationals 4-1 in the first game of a doubleheader.

Wellemeyer hasn’t lost since April 28, and has surrendered just two home runs in his last eight outings, spanning 49 innings. He has posted a 3.52 ERA in one start and four relief appearances versus the Phillies, but has not received a decision against them.

Philadelphia will counter with Kyle Kendrick (5-2, 4.87 ERA), who faced St. Louis twice as a rookie last season, posting a 2.77 ERA en route to winning both games. But Kendrick is 2-0 with a 5.09 ERA in his last four outings.

The 23-year-old right-hander did not receive a decision in his last start, giving up two runs, four hits and five walks in 5 1-3 innings as Philadelphia won 6-2 at Atlanta on Saturday night. He is 2-1 with a 5.80 ERA in seven road starts.

Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who has appeared in each of Kendrick’s last eight starts, earned his 18th save in as many chances Thursday. Lidge hasn’t blown a save since a matchup with St. Louis on Sept. 23, giving up three runs and three hits in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss with Houston.

Lidge continues to be dominant this season, posting a 0.93 ERA and a .158 opponent batting average while striking out 37 in 29 innings.

Philadelphia will be facing a St. Louis team that went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position in a 6-2 loss to Cincinnati on Thursday night. Still, the Cardinals won six of nine games on their road trip.

“I thought we had a successful road trip,” St. Louis starter Joel Pineiro told the team’s official Web site. “It was a nice road trip for us.”

This will be the first meeting between St. Louis and Philadelphia since last season, when the Phillies won six of the teams’ nine meetings.