Nine-game homestand ready to roll

Houston is at the ballpark tonight at 7:15 — the opener of a nine-game homestand that also will see the Cardinals play the Walt Jocketty-led Cincinnati Red and the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs. For what it's worth, I'm predicting a 5-4 homestand, which would keep the ballclub in the thick of the race heading into the second week of May.

Just a few odds and ends from the clubhouse tonight. Ryan Franklin was fooling around with a rather loud megaphone that apparently belonged to (who else?) Todd Wellemeyer. The pregame tranquility in the clubhouse was drastically altered when Franklin turned on the megaphone's siren mode.

Cesar Izturis still isn't ready to play after being hit by a pitch on the right elbow by Milwaukee's Eric Gagne on Tuesday. Brendan Ryan is back at shortstop. Ryan said he's still experiencing "tightness" in the upper part of his right side. He suffered a sprained oblique late in spring training.

Here's the St. Louis lineup against Astros right-hander Shawn Chacon:
Skip Schumaker RF
Rick Ankiel CF
Albert Pujols 1B
Chris Duncan LF
Troy Glaus 3B
Adam Kennedy 2B
Yadier Molina C
Braden Looper P
Brendan Ryan SS

And now, the Houston Astros:
Kaz Matsui 2B
Darin Erstad CF
Miguel Tejada SS
Lance Berkman 1B
Carlos Lee LF
Geoff Blum 3B
Hunter Pence RF
J.R. Towles C
Shawn Chacon P