Pirates and Cardinals meet, winner claims 3-game series

Updated Jul. 4, 2024 4:00 a.m. ET

Associated Press

St. Louis Cardinals (44-41, second in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (41-44, third in the NL Central)

Pittsburgh; Thursday, 12:35 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Andre Pallante (4-3, 4.50 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 31 strikeouts); Pirates: Martin Perez (1-4, 5.28 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 50 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Cardinals -119, Pirates +100; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals meet on Thursday with the three-game series tied 1-1.

Pittsburgh has a 20-21 record at home and a 41-44 record overall. The Pirates have the seventh-ranked team ERA in the NL at 3.99.

St. Louis has gone 20-23 in road games and 44-41 overall. The Cardinals have a 31-6 record in games when they out-hit their opponents.

Thursday's game is the sixth time these teams match up this season. The Cardinals are up 3-2 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bryan Reynolds has 19 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs for the Pirates. Oneil Cruz is 8-for-36 with a double, three home runs and seven RBI over the past 10 games.

Nolan Gorman leads St. Louis with 17 home runs while slugging .404. Paul Goldschmidt is 9-for-40 with two home runs and four RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 5-5, .223 batting average, 3.94 ERA, outscored by four runs

Cardinals: 6-4, .248 batting average, 3.50 ERA, outscored by five runs

INJURIES: Pirates: Jared Jones: day-to-day (lat), David Bednar: 15-Day IL (oblique), Henry Davis: 7-Day IL (head), Hunter Stratton: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Borucki: 60-Day IL (tricep), Quinn Priester: 15-Day IL (undisclosed), Marco Gonzales: 60-Day IL (forearm), Dauri Moreta: 60-Day IL (elbow), Endy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Cardinals: Steven Matz: 60-Day IL (back), Keynan Middleton: 60-Day IL (forearm), Ivan Herrera: 10-Day IL (back), Lars Nootbaar: 10-Day IL (oblique), Nick Robertson: 15-Day IL (elbow), Riley O'Brien: 60-Day IL (forearm), Tommy Edman: 60-Day IL (wrist), Drew Rom: 60-Day IL (biceps)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.