(Sports Network) - The St. Louis Cardinals begin a two-city, eight-game road trip tonight, as they play the first of four straight games against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The Cardinals, who head to Milwaukee for four straight after this series, are just 6-5 away from home this season. St. Louis wrapped up a nine-game homestand on Sunday with a 5-3 victory over Chicago, ending the residency with a 6-3 mark.

Albert Pujols broke up an early tie with a two-run double in the fourth inning, putting the Cardinals ahead for good. Adam Kennedy went 2-for-2 and drove in two runs for St. Louis, which has won four of five and leads the National League Central by 1 1/2 games over the Cubs.

Pujols has now reached base in all 32 of St. Louis' games this year and leads the club with a .358 batting average. He is a career .357 hitter versus Colorado with 17 homers, 46 RBI and 33 walks in 50 games against the Rockies.

Todd Wellemeyer (3-1) got the win against the club that drafted him, holding the Cubs to three hits and two runs in five innings with four strikeouts and four walks. Four St. Louis relievers combined to hold the hot Cubs lineup to two hits and one run over the final four frames.

Joel Pineiro will pitch at Coors Field for the first time in his career when he starts for the Cardinals tonight. Pineiro, who split last season with Boston and St. Louis, has faced the Rockies a total of three times (2 starts) and gone 1-0 with a 7.90 earned run average against them. He faced Colorado once in relief last year while with the Red Sox, allowing three runs in two innings of action.

The right-hander has won back-to-back starts since opening the season 0-2 and was excellent against the Reds on Tuesday. Pineiro allowed a single to lead off the game, but didn't allow another hit while walking four and striking out three over seven innings of a 7-2 victory over Cincinnati.

The Rockies have still yet to recapture the magic that helped them to an NL title last year, as the club has won just two of its last nine games. However, one of those victories came on Sunday, when Colorado halted the Los Angeles Dodgers' eight-game winning streak with a 7-2 triumph.

Aaron Cook (5-1) allowed two runs on nine hits in 7 2/3 innings for Colorado, while Taylor Buchholz hurled 1 1/3 scoreless frames to earn his first save of the season.

Matt Holliday knocked in two runs, Scott Podsednik was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a run batted in, and Omar Quintanilla provided an RBI double and scored two runs for Colorado.

Ubaldo Jimenez starts for the Rockies and will try to steady his control tonight. Jimenez leads the majors with eight wild pitches and has walked 22 batters over 29 total innings this year.

After going 1-2 through his first three starts, the right-hander has posted three straight no decisions, but pitched well enough to win last time out.

Making his fourth straight road start, Jimenez held the Giants to a pair of runs on three hits and a season-low two walks over 5 1/3 innings on Wednesday. Tonight, the righty will start at Coors Field for the first time since beating the Braves on April 8.

Jimenez faced the Cardinals for the first time in his career on April 3 and took the loss after yielding three runs on seven hits and five walks over five innings. Pujols had a pair of hits, including a double, while Rick Ankiel and Troy Glaus each plated a run in that game.

The Cardinals took two of three from the Rockies when these clubs met from April 1-3. St. Louis is 13-6 versus Colorado since the start of the 2006 season.