While the Cardinals' faithful gets their first chance to welcome back Edmonds since St. Louis traded the fan favorite to San Diego last winter after he starred for eight seasons for the club, Zambrano's return could have the biggest impact on the contest.

Zambrano (8-3, 3.13 ERA) hasn't pitched since losing June 18 at Tampa Bay, when he left in the seventh inning due to shoulder discomfort. Zambrano was placed on the 15-day disabled list after being diagnosed with a right shoulder sprain.

Manager Lou Piniella hopes for 85 to 90 pitches from the right-hander, who is 0-2 with a 5.75 ERA over his last three starts.

"If he does well he can pitch six innings for us," Piniella said.

Zambrano, 8-4 with a 2.37 ERA in 18 starts against St. Louis, hopes to help the Cubs (51-35) bounce back from an 8-3 loss at San Francisco on Thursday as they settled for a four-game split.

Chicago, owner of a 2 1/2-game lead over St. Louis (49-38), has lost seven of its last 10 overall and is 2-5 on a 10-game road trip.

Edmonds, meanwhile, has enjoyed a resurgence since coming to Chicago after being released in May by San Diego, where he hit .178 in 26 games. The 38-year-old center fielder is batting .294 with eight homers and 24 RBIs in 36 games with the Cubs.

From 2000-2007, Edmonds won six Gold Glove Awards, made three All-Star teams and helped the Cardinals to an improbable run to the 2006 World Series title. Preparing to come back to Busch as a member of the Cardinals' biggest rival seems to have left Edmonds speechless.

"I was there for eight years, I don't even know what to say," said Edmonds, whose 241 home runs with the Cardinals are the fourth most in club history.

"That's like the biggest part of my life. I'm looking forward to going back there, just being back in that stadium."

St. Louis (49-38), which took two of three at home from Chicago on May 2-4, looks to bounce back from an 11-1 loss to the New York Mets on Thursday after splitting that four-game set. It was the second loss in six games for St. Louis.

"It was just bad all around game," outfielder Ryan Ludwick told the Cardinals' official Web site. "We've had a couple this year, but fortunately for us, we haven't had a ton of them. We just have to throw it away like we have in the past and be ready to play (Friday)."

Ludwick had two hits and Aaron Miles extended his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games, while Yadier Molina has hit safely in 10 straight contests.

Miles is batting .400 (26-for-65) and Molina .351 (13-for-37) during their respective streaks. The pair is a combined 6-for-13 against the Cubs this season.

Braden Looper (9-5, 4.26) looks to join Saturday's starter Kyle Lohse as a 10-game winner for the Cardinals on Friday. Looper allowed two earned runs and six hits in 3 1-3 innings in a 9-6 win at Kansas City on Sunday.

The right-hander will make his first start against Chicago this season. He went 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA in 2007 during his only four previous starts against the Cubs.