SPORTSTICKER NL PREVIEW LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The red-hot St. Louis Cardinals attempt to make it consecutive wins over the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight when the teams battle in the middle game of a three-game series. Ray Lankford homered twice in a game against the Dodgers for the second time in less than a week, leading the Cardinals to a 10-6 victory on Friday. St. Louis has won five of seven meetings from the Dodgers this season. St. Louis has won five of its last six games after enduring a three-game losing streak. With their 22-18 record, the Cardinals have a winning record for the first time after 40 games since they had the same record in the 1994-95 season. Taking advantage of Los Angeles catcher Todd Hundley's reconstructed right elbow behind the plate, the Cardinals stole seven bases in eight chances on Friday. Hundley has thrown out just 5-of-42 (11 percent) runners attempting to steal this season. Clint Sodowsky (0-0, 9.00 ERA) makes the jump from the bullpen to the starting rotation for St. Louis. In two relief outings with the Cardinals earlier this month, Sodowsky was tagged for three runs and six hits in just three innings. He has spent much of the season with Triple-A Memphis, going 1-1 with a 3.04 ERA in five games, including three starts. The slumping Dodgers have dropped five of their last six games and would fall back to the .500 mark with a loss tonight. Darren Dreifort (4-2, 4.61) moves back into a starting role for the Dodgers. After starting his first seven outings, Dreifort came out of the bullpen on Tuesday against Houston and allowed only one hit over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He has gone past the sixth inning just twice in seven starts.  