(Sports Network) - The Atlanta Braves will try to regroup from a disappointing home sweep when Bobby Cox's up-and-down club starts up a four-game series with the defending world champion St. Louis Cardinals this evening at Turner Field.

Atlanta began its current 10-game homestand in fine fashion, taking all three meetings with the downtrodden Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend. That momentum was squashed, however, when the Braves lost three consecutive times to the National League Central cellar-dwelling Cincinnati Reds at Turner Field.

The Reds needed 15 innings to come away with a 5-4 decision in Wednesday's finale, with Brandon Phillips' two-RBI single accounting for the go-ahead runs.

Atlanta closed within 5-4 on Jeff Francoeur's RBI single in the bottom of the 15th and had the tying run at second base with two outs. With the Braves out of position players, pitcher Kyle Davies was forced to pinch hit and was struck out by Mike Gosling to end the game.

The Braves extended the game in the bottom of the 10th when Chipper Jones doubled home Edgar Renteria to tie the score at 3-3. Jones was on third base with nobody out, but his teammates were unable to get him home.

Atlanta finished with 18 hits on the afternoon, including four from Renteria, but stranded 14 runners. Francoeur went 3-for-6 with a pair of RBI and Andruw Jones also collected three hits along with two runs scored.

The loss ruined an outstanding return to the mound for John Smoltz. The All- Star pitcher, who had been sidelined since July 2 due to shoulder inflammation, racked up 11 strikeouts over seven shutout innings for Atlanta. He was denied a victory, however, when reliever Rafael Soriano served up a two-run homer to Adam Dunn in the eighth which put Cincinnati up 2-1.

Despite the recent slide, Atlanta trails the slumping New York Mets by just 2 1/2 games for first place in the NL West.

The Braves will turn to Tim Hudson to get the club back on track in tonight's opener. The standout righty was extremely sharp in his first start following the All-Star break, limiting Pittsburgh to five hits over seven scoreless frames in Friday's 9-1 Atlanta win.

Hudson is 3-0 with a 3.00 earned run average over his last four starts and has yielded one run or less in each of those three victories.

The ground-ball specialist owns a 2-1 record with a 4.85 ERA in four previous appearances against St. Louis and won his only start against the Cardinals last season, although he surrendered five runs over 5 2/3 innings in that game.

St. Louis comes in having won three of its last four and shut out the Florida Marlins in Wednesday's rubber match of a three-game set from Dolphin Stadium.

Kip Wells was brilliant in the Cardinals' 6-0 win, as the previously- struggling starter yielded just two hits and a pair of walks over the first eight innings. He retired the final 14 batters he faced.

Wells (4-12) received plenty of offensive support from Juan Encarnacion, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, and So Taguchi, who finished with two hits, two RBI and a pair of runs scored.

The Cardinals were without third baseman Scott Rolen, who flew back to St. Louis on Wednesday to receive a cortisone shot in his aching shoulder. He is expected to rejoin the team for tonight's game but is likely to sit out again.

Mike Maroth gets the call for St. Louis this evening and will attempt to earn an elusive first victory in a Cards' uniform. The left-hander has gone 0-2 with a 5.75 ERA in four starts since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers on June 22.

Maroth hopes to shake off a rough outing in Philadelphia last Saturday in which he was tagged for eight runs (six earned) over five innings. Three of the nine hits he surrendered were home runs.

The 29-year-old faced the Braves twice previously while with Detroit and is 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA in 12 2/3 innings of work against Atlanta.

Tonight's contest will be the first 2007 meeting between these teams. Atlanta won four of six matchups with St. Louis last season and is 4-1 in its last five games against the Cardinals at Turner Field.