Winners of six of their last seven, the St. Louis Cardinals look to keep a slim Wild Card lead as they open a series against the Houston Astros tonight at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

With a 2-1/2 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers for the final National League Wild Card spot, the Cardinals turn to Lance Lynn (16-7, 3.79 ERA), who they hope can duplicate last week's success against the Astros. Last Wednesday, Lynn gave up just three hits over 6-1/3 innings, helping to shut out the Astros in a 5-0 win.

Houston will start left-hander Fernando Abad (0-5, 5.11), who has given up four runs in seven innings pitched against the Cardinals this season. Here are the rest of tonight's lineups:

CARDINALS (82-71)

1. Jon Jay CF
2. Carlos Beltran RF
3. Matt Holliday LF
4. Allen Craig 1B
5. Yadier Molina C
6. David Freese 3B
7. Daniel Descalso 2B
8. Pete Kozma SS
9. Lance Lynn P (16-7, 3.79 ERA)

ASTROS (50-103)

1. Jed Lowrie SS
2. Scott Moore RF
3. Brett Wallace 1B
4. Justin Maxwell CF
5. Fernando Martinez LF
6. Matt Dominguez 3B
7. Jason Castro C
8. Marwin Gonzalez 2B
9. Fernando Abad P (0-5, 5.11 ERA)