"Perhaps Cardinals righthander Chris Carpenter's two favorite active pitchers are Philadelphia's Roy Halladay, who spent eight seasons with Carpenter in the Toronto system and is one of Carpenter's best friends, and Cardinals righthander Adam Wainwright, whom Carpenter has grown to appreciate and admire.

The two are the leading winners in the National League at 21 and 20 victories, respectively, and seem to be the two leading candidates for the Cy Young Award. "It will be interesting, no question about it," said Carpenter.

"I knew coming in that (Halladay) had a shot. But I believe it's going to be tight. Those are the only two that should have consideration."

Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez can gain his 20th win against the Cardinals here on Saturday but Carpenter, a 16-game winner himself, doesn't rank Jimenez as high as the other two.

"He's won five games in the second half," said Carpenter. "Not that he isn't a great pitcher. He's had a great year. But the other two guys had much more consistency."

Manager Tony La Russa weighs in with Wainwright, or least isn't willing to concede the honor to Halladay.

"A lot of times a player doesn't get it because his club doesn't get into the postseason," said La Russa.

"But how can you say it's no contest and Halladay's cinched it? That's what being said _ that it's all over. But what about Wainwright?

"One (writer) said Wainwright had faded. Well, he had three or four starts that weren't great. But what about his whole season?"

Wainwright's earned average is slightly ahead of Halladay's at 2.42 to .2.44.

"He must not have faded that much if he's got a better ERA," said La Russa."