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PHILADELPHIA -- Adam Wainwright and Adam Morgan will be looking to snap slumps of varying degrees on Friday when the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies open a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.Wainwright (9-7, 4.72 ERA), the Cardinals 34-year-old right-hander, matched the shortest start of his career in his last time out -- working just two innings in a 13-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. The three-time All-Star allowed seven runs on six hits and walked three, and afterward called his outing embarrassing, according to Major League Baseballs official web site.Wainwright, who is winless in his last five outings, also surrendered six runs on nine hits over six innings in losing his previous start to Atlanta.Morgans struggles are much more pronounced. Philadelphias second-year left-hander is 1-7 with a 6.62 ERA, and hasnt won since beating the Braves for his lone victory on May 10. In the meantime, he has gone 0-7 with a 7.46 ERA over 12 starts, a drought interrupted by a stint at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in which he went 5-0.Morgan returned to the parent club last weekend but was forced to depart Sundays start against Colorado after three innings when he was hit on the elbow by a line drive off the bat of Nick Hundley. Morgan reported no ill effects.Morgan was saddled with a no-decision in his only start against St. Louis this year, allowing three runs on six hits over four innings. He is 1-0 with a 3.72 ERA in two career starts against the Cardinals.Wainwright, who is 6-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 13 career outings against Phillies, told reporters after the loss to the Cubs that he was feeling a little under the weather, but did not wish to use that as an excuse. He also denied that he was tipping his pitches, as was suspected in his previous outing.Today, the way I was tipping is that when they got in the batters box, they knew I was going to throw something in the middle of the plate, Wainwright said, according to MLB.com. You do that against a good team, and theyre going to hit it really hard.The Cardinals, who hold a one-game lead over Pittsburgh in the race for the National Leagues second wild-card berth, have won four in a row. The Phillies, who beat the Dodgers 5-4 on Thursday night to salvage the finale of a three-game series, have won four of six.Maikel Francos two-run homer off Dodgers reliever Grant Dayton in the seventh inning proved decisive.Fastball, right down the middle, said Franco, who jumped on a 1-1 offering. Put a good contact on it, nothing else. I just go try to put the ball in play, put good contact on it.It was Francos 11th game-winning RBI, which leads the Phillies and is tied for fourth in the National League. It was also his team-leading 19th go-ahead RBI.With all the swings and misses and expanding the strike zone, he comes up big an awful lot, manager Pete Mackanin said. You cant deny the numbers that hes put up.Cheap Swell Bottles . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. Swell Liberty Water Bottle . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. http://www.swellbottleuk.com/ .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. Cheap Swell Bottle . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Swell Bottle Uk . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team.BOULDER, Colo. -- Xavier Johnson and Josh Fortune scored 14 points apiece and Colorado beat Louisiana-Monroe 89-70 Thursday night in a regional game of the Legends Classic.Derrick White and George King added 12 points each for Colorado (3-0), which is off to its best start since opening the 2012-13 season with six consecutive wins.It was Colorados 11th consecutive win at the Coors Events Center.Were not where we want to be, White said. We have to improve individually and collectively. Right now, we are 3-0, which was what our goal was to start. We just have to continue to improve.Jordon Harris had 15 points -- all on 3 pointers -- to lead Louisiana-Monroe (1-2). Travis Munnings and Marvin Jean-Pierre each added 12 points for the Warhawks, who have never beaten Colorado in three meetings.Up by 25 points at the half, Colorado maintained its double-digit lead the rest of the way, going in front by 27 points on Johnsons layup with 8:10 left. Louisiana-Monroe closed the gap somewhat in the late going after Colorado began substituting freely.King hit two 3-pointers in the opening minutes and helped Colorado break out to a 48-23 halftime lead. The Buffaloes led for all but 46 seconds of the period, when the game was briefly tied.BIG PICTURELouisiana-Monroe: Last time out, in an 80-59 loss to Texas, the Warhawks struggled offensively, particularly in the second half and finished by making just 30 percent of their shots from the field. It was more of the same against Colorado, only the Warhawks shooting woes surfaced from the outset. They converted 25 percent of their shots in the first half before starting to find the range in the second half, winding up converting 41.3 percent of their sshots.ddddddddddddColorado: Balanced scoring and depth has been a strength of Colorado in its 3-0 start. Ten of 12 players scored in the win over the Warhawks, including all five starters. And the Buffaloes did not let up despite their big lead. They kept the offensive pressure on Louisiana-Monroe throughout the game.IN TOUGHLouisiana-Monroe met its match and then some in consecutive losses to Texas and Colorado, and coach Keith Richard anticipated the Warhawks would be in tough against the teams, both members of Power 5 conferences. We lost five seniors, five very good players from last years team, he said. Im not surprised by the final score in both games. These are two good teams. Colorado is really good and theyre extra special here in Boulder.MEMORABLE STARTColorado freshman Bryce Peters, who was suspended for the first two games because of a team rule violation, made his first career basket a memorable one. Midway through the first half, he came up with a steal and then raced down the court for a breakaway dunk. He finished with nine points, including a 3-pointer off a feed from White, who rebounded a missed free throw just before the first-half buzzer.INJURY REPORTColorado junior guard Dominique Collier, who was limited to a few minutes of play Monday night against Seattle, could miss four to six weeks with a broken bone in his foot.UP NEXTLouisiana-Monroe: Travels to Cheney, Washington for a game Monday against Seattle.Colorado: Continues play in the 2016 Legends Classic on Monday when it will play Notre Dame at the Barclays Center in New York. ' ' '