PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Randy Johnson gets the start for the Arizona Diamondbacks when they begin defense of their title on Tuesday night in Game One of their National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, a rematch of last season's five-game thriller.

Johnson (24-5, 2.32 ERA) is the front-runner for the Cy Young Award - which would be his fourth straight and fifth overall - after closing another remarkable season with a 5-0 mark and a 0.68 ERA in his last five starts. The "Big Unit" is 11-1 in his last 14 starts.

The 6-10 lefthander is just 5-6 with a 3.65 ERA against St. Louis in his career, including a victory here on April 16 in which he yielded three runs and eight hits in seven innings in a 5-3 triumph. Johnson also lost to St. Louis here in Game Two of the NLDS a year ago by yielding three runs and six hits in eight innings in a 4-1 defeat that extended his record postseason losing streak to seven games.

"Obviously, I know their strengths," Johnson said. "I know from past experience what I do and what I don't want to do. And the bottom line - you can be prepared all you want, but you have to go out and execute the pitches."

Arizona won a 2-1 thriller in Game Five a year ago when Tony Womack singled in Danny Bautista with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off Steve Kline. The Diamondbacks won their three games by a combined four runs in the series.

Matt Morris (17-9, 3.42 ERA) started that game for St. Louis and allowed just a fourth-inning solo homer to Reggie Sanders in eight innings. Morris also received the loss in Game One last year, when he went the distance and was outdueled by Curt Schilling.

"I'm coming back to the same environment, a lot of familiarity is around," Morris said. "I think everybody's adrenaline will be pumping. You're not searching for that extra level as far as putting more pressure on yourself. I'm going to go out there and be focused and be calm and just focus more on my physical ability."

Morris opened the season with four straight victories but struggled a bit in the immediate aftermath of teammate Darryl Kile's death. He still managed to fashion a 9-4 road record with a 2.94 ERA this year and won at Arizona on April 17, when he yielded four runs and nine hits in seven innings in an 8-4 victory.

The righthander is 1-1 with a 2.84 career ERA in the regular season against the Diamondbacks.

Arizona has been forced to revamp its lineup due to the absences of All-Star left fielder Luis Gonzalez and second baseman and catalyst Craig Counsell. The Diamondbacks are using Quinton McCracken, David Dellucci, Erubiel Durazo and possibly Mark Little in the outfield and Chad Moeller will catch Johnson.

"Well it's different, I'm not going to lie to you," Arizona manager Bob Brenly said. "Luis Gonzalez has been our best run producer over the last couple of years and a constant threat no matter how he was swinging the bat at a particular time. Counsell is one of the best clutch hitters in the National League before his injury. So you take two pieces like that out of anybody's lineup and it's going to be a different look."

Gonzalez hit 28 homers and drove in 103 runs for Arizona. Center fielder Steve Finley, who hit .287 with 82 runs and had 89 RBI, will have to help pick up the slack.

The Cardinals won five of nine meetings with the Diamondbacks this season, including a three-game sweep last week at home. But St. Louis does not feel like it will not benefit from any carry-over effect.

"The history of a short series is that everything gets put in the past and it's all about the series you're playing and who plays the best for three out of five games, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "You can never draw anything from what happened, whether you lost two or 14 or whatever."

St. Louis received strong seasons from Albert Pujols and Edgar Renteria this year. The Cardinals also received a boost from the acquisition of All-Star third baseman Scott Rolen, who hit 14 homers and had 44 RBI in 55 games.

The Cardinals also are playing with the memory of Kile on their minds. Morris indicated on Monday that he has chosen to use the tragic death of Kile as part of his motivation to pitch well.