Adam Wainwright

  Tonight at 8:15 RHP Joe Blanton (0-2, 8.41 ERA) vs. St. Louis RHP Kyle Lohse (3-0, 1.97).   Tomorrow at 8:15 p.m. RHP Brett Myers (1-2, 4.83) vs. St. Louis RHP Adam Wainwright (3-0, 2.76).

  The Nationals are 6-6 against the Braves this season, but they are pitching somebody named Yunesky Maya against Derek Lowe in the series opener. The Braves had better take advantage of their three home games against the Nats, because they will be followed by a nine-game road trip to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. The Braves are 31-41 on the road this season, including 7-11 against those three NL East teams.   The Reds are pulling away from the Cardinals, and it appears they will be the first National League team to clinch a division title.

8:15, Busch Stadium, St. Louis. TV: Channel 17. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM); WUBA (1480-AM) Spanish. Pitching matchup: RHP Roy Halladay (9-3, 2.56) at RHP Kyle McClellan (6-3, 3.96) HALLADAY vs. CARDINALS: This is Halladay's first start against St. Louis this season. He faced them once last season, allowing two runs in seven innings of a 7-2 win at Citizens Bank Park. Halladay took a no decision in the Phillies' come-from-behind win over the Marlins last Wednesday. He'll get his second crack at reaching double digits in wins tonight.

Now it can be told: Astros owner Drayton McLane told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he knew Roy Oswalt wanted to be traded to the Cardinals and wouldn't have stopped a deal. "That was not a roadblock," he said. "I think [trading within the division] used to be something you avoided. That's not how I viewed it. It just never really materialized. " The Phillies, obviously, are pleased that the Cardinals came up short. WAR games: Wins Above Replacement is a sabermetric tool developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.

THE STORY circulating the Internet about Corey Fisher's 105 points in a summer-league game actually appears to be true. Fisher, it seems, put up the triple figures on Saturday at the Watson Gleason Playground in the Bronx, Fisher's 'hood. Silly us for doubting the Internet. A spokesman at Villanova was unable to reach Fisher for comment for us, but coach Jay Wright talked to him yesterday and shared a portion of the conversation with Daily News sports writer Bob Cooney.

Atlanta Braves minor league manager Luis Salazar has lost an eye after he was struck in the face by a line drive while watching a spring training game. Braves general manager Frank Wren said yesterday that doctors were unable to save Salazar's left eye after the accident March 9. The former major league player is otherwise recovering from his injuries and expects to manage Lynchburg of the Class A Carolina League this season. Salazar, 54, was standing against the railing on the top step of the dugout during a game between the Braves and St. Louis Cardinals when Brian McCann fouled a ball in his direction.

The Mets say Johan Santana has injured his left shoulder again and likely will need surgery and miss the 2013 season. The two-time Cy Young Award winner missed the 2011 season following shoulder surgery in September 2010, then returned last year and pitched the first no-hitter in the team's history. He hasn't pitched in an exhibition game this year because of arm weakness. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Thursday that an MRI in New York a day earlier showed a "probable" re-tear of Santana's left shoulder capsule.

Tony who? Mark McGwire drew a standing ovation before the Cardinals' home opener Monday, as the fans of St. Louis made it clear that his admitted steroid use is a distant memory. McGwire, the Cards' new hitting coach, rode in the back of a dark blue flatbed truck around the warning track in the team's annual procession. Cheers for the big slugger dwarfed the response for manager Tony La Russa. After jumping down from the truck, McGwire shook hands with the greatest Red Bird of them all - Hall of Famer Stan Musial, who still made it to opening day at the age of 89. In the company of aces How good is Roy Halladay?

Two old friends had their fun, then got down to business. This could have been John Smoltz and Greg Maddux in the prime of their brilliant careers when they were Atlanta Braves teammates, not opponents. Smoltz got the best of Maddux in their first head-to-head matchup since 1992, earning the win when the Braves rallied for two runs in the seventh inning to beat the visiting San Diego Padres, 3-2, last night. Both pitchers - with 533 wins and five Cy Young Awards between them - were eager to get the best of the other after spending 11 years as teammates.

ON THE VERGE of a second successive series sweep, the Reds encountered a ninth-inning blip. First Mat Latos gave up a triple, ending his bid for a complete game. Then closer Aroldis Chapman gave up another triple, sending the game into extra innings. But the visiting Reds bounced back in the 10th, scoring three times to complete their second three-game sweep in a row by beating the Miami Marlins, 5-3, last night. NL RBI leader Brandon Phillips homered in the sixth inning and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th.

ANDRELTON SIMMONS hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, then made an eye-popping play to start the ninth as the Atlanta Braves beat the visiting Washington Nationals, 3-2, last night and ended their four-game losing streak. Atlanta beat the Nationals for the eighth straight time dating to last season. The Braves swept three games at Washington earlier this month. Washington's Stephen Strasburg ended his career-worst streak of losses in four straight starts. He allowed two runs in six innings.

The Mets say Johan Santana has injured his left shoulder again and likely will need surgery and miss the 2013 season. The two-time Cy Young Award winner missed the 2011 season following shoulder surgery in September 2010, then returned last year and pitched the first no-hitter in the team's history. He hasn't pitched in an exhibition game this year because of arm weakness. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Thursday that an MRI in New York a day earlier showed a "probable" re-tear of Santana's left shoulder capsule.

THE NEW YORK Mets say Johan Santana has injured his left shoulder again and likely will need surgery and miss the 2013 season. The two-time Cy Young Award winner missed the 2011 season following shoulder surgery in September 2010, then returned last year and pitched the first no-hitter in the team's history. He hasn't pitched in an exhibition game this year because of arm weakness. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Thursday that an MRI in New York a day earlier showed a "probable" retear of Santana's left shoulder capsule.

THE PHILLIES have the fifth-highest value among Major League Baseball franchises, according to Forbes magazine, which estimates their worth at $893 million. Forbes estimated the New York Yankees have the highest value for the 16th straight year at $2.3 billion, up from last year's $1.85 billion. It also reported that the average for an MLB team increased by 23 percent in the last year to $744 million. The Los Angeles Dodgers are second at $1.62 billion, nearly $400 million below the price paid for the team last May when a group headed by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson bought the franchise from Frank McCourt.

ST. LOUIS - Matt Holliday broke out of a postseason slump with two RBIs on Thursday night, helping the St. Louis Cardinals take a 6-1 lead over the San Francisco Giants after six innings in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. Holliday, hitting .167 with no RBIs in the NLCS entering the game, followed Jon Jay's single and Matt Carpenter's walk in the first inning with a single. Allen Craig, 0 for 9 through the first three games, added a sacrifice fly in the inning against Tim Lincecum, though Angel Pagan prevented more damage with a shoestring catch on Craig's sinking liner.

ST. LOUIS - One more win and another bunch of wild-card Cardinals get their chance to repeat. Adam Wainwright threw seven innings of four-hit ball and St. Louis roughed up Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants in an 8-3 rout Thursday night that gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead in the NLCS. The defending World Series champions can wrap up their second straight pennant as a wild card with a victory at home Friday night in Game 5. Lance Lynn faces Giants lefty Barry Zito, and a Cardinals win would set up a 2006 World Series rematch with Detroit.

ST. LOUIS - Carlos Beltran limped to the trainer's room, taking the St. Louis Cardinals' biggest clutch October bat with him. Turns out they had the perfect substitute. Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer after subbing for Beltran and the Cardinals chased Matt Cain before a 3 1/2-hour rain delay in the seventh inning of a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night for a 2-1 NLCS lead. Beltran strained his left knee running out a doubleplay ball in the first innings; the Cardinals said he is day to day. Kyle Lohse worked around a season-worst five walks in 5 2/3 innings.

WASHINGTON - Doesn't matter how bad things look for the St. Louis Cardinals. Trailing by a bunch, down to their last strike, they simply stay calm and do what it takes to win. Erasing an early, six-run hole in Game 5, slowly but surely, the defending World Series champion Cardinals got a tying two-out, two-run single from Daniel Descalso and a go-ahead, two-run single from Pete Kozma in the ninth inning and came all the way back to beat the Washington...

GIANCARLO STANTON appears to have no problem with the dimensions of Dodger Stadium, which isn't exactly a home-run haven. The power-hitting rightfielder made Chavez Ravine his personal launching pad this weekend, homering for the third straight game Sunday as the Miami Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-2. Stanton drove a first-pitch fastball from Aaron Harang (9-8) over the centerfield wall in the fourth inning for his 29th homer, tying it at 1. It was his eighth homer during the Marlins' 5-6 road trip.