Cardinals visit the Pirates in division matchup
St. Louis Cardinals (52-47, second in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (46-53, fourth in the NL Central)
Pittsburgh; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (9-4, 3.57 ERA) Pirates: Chris Archer (3-6, 5.36 ERA)
LINE: Pirates favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh will host St. Louis in a meeting of division rivals.
The Pirates are 19-24 against NL Central teams. Pittsburgh ranks fourth in the majors in hitting with a .269 batting average, Bryan Reynolds leads the club with an average of .335.
The Cardinals are 21-19 against opponents from the NL Central. The St. Louis pitching staff owns a combined team ERA of 4.09, Jack Flaherty leads the staff with a mark of 4.24. The Cardinals won the last meeting 6-5. Chasen Shreve earned his first victory and Paul Goldschmidt went 1-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for St. Louis. Clay Holmes registered his first loss for Pittsburgh.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 62 extra base hits and is slugging .611. Starling Marte is 12-for-41 with three doubles, four home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
Paul DeJong leads the Cardinals with 92 hits and has 44 RBIs. Tyler O'Neill is 14-for-42 with two doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 2-8, .252 batting average, 4.91 ERA, outscored by 21 runs
Cardinals: 8-2, .242 batting average, 3.60 ERA, outscored opponents by 17 runs
Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: 60-day IL (elbow), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Keone Kela: 60-day IL (shoulder), Rookie Davis: 10-day IL (finger/forearm), Nick Burdi: 60-day IL (biceps), Steven Brault: 10-day IL (shoulder), Gregory Polanco: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 60-day IL (finger), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Francisco Cervelli: 10-day IL (concussion).
Cardinals Injuries: Mike Mayers: 60-day IL (shoulder), Jordan Hicks: 60-day IL (elbow), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm), Marcell Ozuna: 10-day IL (hand), Jedd Gyorko: 10-day IL (back), Matt Carpenter: 10-day IL (foot), Yadier Molina: 10-day IL (thumb).
