Wells to return to rotation

~ Wellemeyer will head to the bullpen to make room for Wells.

ST. LOUIS -- Kip Wells, a bust as a starter earlier this year, will get another chance for the St. Louis Cardinals the first game after the All-Star break.

Wells' 3-11 record and 5.92 ERA remain unsightly, but the right-hander lowered his ERA more than a point and picked up a victory after being sent to the bullpen in mid-June. In four appearances and a spot start, he allowed only two runs in 16 innings.

"I think he's found better command and life on his fastball down in the zone," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "He's thrown more quality breaking balls.

"He looked like he did in spring training."

The reinstatement of Wells, a $4 million free agent pickup in the offseason, means Wellemeyer (3-1, 4.19) returns to the bullpen. Wellemeyer threw five scoreless innings in a 7-0 victory over Barry Zito and the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, and the Cardinals are 7-1 in his eight starts.

Mike Maroth (0-1, 4.11) and Adam Wainwright (7-7, 4.66) also are scheduled to pitch in a three-game series in Philadelphia that begins Friday, with Braden Looper (6-7, 4.72) and Brad Thompson (6-3, 4.90) working the first two games of a three-game set in Florida after that.

La Russa said informing Wellemeyer after the game was "probably the toughest decision" of the first half.

"Look at our record on the day he pitches," La Russa said. "It's remarkable. To tell him he's going to be in the bullpen is a really tough call."

Wellemeyer didn't seem to mind much. He assumed he'd be back in relief eventually, with ace Chris Carpenter making his second rehab start Sunday and Mark Mulder also slowly gearing up for a return. The Cardinals had also considered moving Thompson back to a relief role.

That'll likely be Thompson's fate whenever Carpenter, rehabbing from surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow in May, is ready. La Russa said Carpenter may need a few more outings and doesn't expect him to be ready before the team returns from a 10-game trip to start the second half.

"I knew I was going to end up in the bullpen eventually," said Wellemeyer, a waiver wire pickup from the Royals in mid-May. "I've got my confidence up and it should be an interesting second half."

Wellemeyer approached Sunday's start as an audition of sorts, but knew better than to expect one outing in which he outpitched the game's highest paid pitcher would outweigh other factors. Zito has a seven-year, $126 million contract.

"I guess it's always good to do that," Wellemeyer said. "No big deal, man. It was going to happen."