Sports Network) - The St. Louis Cardinals will shoot for a sweep of a three- game series with the San Francisco Giants when the teams cap the set this afternoon at Busch Stadium.

The Cards, who have a magic number of nine to clinch the NL Central, picked up an easy 6-1 victory in Saturday's meeting with the Giants. Chris Carpenter led St. Louis by tossing seven innings of five-hit ball for his 100th career win.

Juan Encarnacion belted a three-run homer and Albert Pujols was 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI for the Cardinals. Aaron Miles hit two triples and scored a run in the victory.

Carpenter (15-6) gave up one run, walked two and struck out nine. He has won five straight decisions over his last eight starts and hasn't lost since August 4.

Giants starter Matt Morris (10-14) gave up five runs on seven hits and had three strikeouts with two walks in six innings, as San Francisco lost for the fourth time in its last six. The Giants are now 3 1/2 games behind San Diego in the NL wild card race.

The Cardinals did receive some bad news on Saturday when they learned that closer Jason Isringhausen will miss the rest of the season with an impingement and arthritis in his left hip. St. Louis is now expected to employ a closer- by-committee strategy with Braden Looper and Adam Wainwright taking turns in the ninth inning.

Jonathan Sanchez will make his third career start when he takes the mound today for San Francisco.

Sanchez started Tuesday against Colorado and posted a no-decision after giving up five runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

The rookie left-hander from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico is 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA in 24 games this season. He has never faced the Cardinals.

The Cardinals will send Jeff Weaver to the bump today and they hope the veteran right-hander can rebound from a rough start.

Weaver, who is 3-4 in 12 starts since coming over in a trade with the Angels, was pounded Tuesday night versus Houston. The Astros touched Weaver for five runs and seven hits over five innings. He is just 6-14 overall this season.

The 30-year-old is 3-5 with a 4.97 ERA in 13 career starts against the Giants.

The Cardinals took two of three games against San Francisco from May 22-24. They are 9-3 in their last 12 matchups with the Giants.