Pittsburgh takes 7-game skid into matchup with St. Louis
Pittsburgh Pirates (48-68, fifth in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (60-55, third in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Sunday, 2:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Steven Brault (3-1, 4.09 ERA) Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (7-12, 3.95 ERA)
LINE: Cardinals favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh enters the matchup as losers of their last seven games.
The Cardinals are 28-20 against opponents from the NL Central. The St. Louis pitching staff owns a team ERA of 4.05, Jack Flaherty paces the staff with a mark of 3.72.
The Pirates have gone 20-34 against division opponents. Pittsburgh ranks sixth in the league in hitting with a .264 batting average, Bryan Reynolds leads the club with an average of .333. The Cardinals won the last meeting 3-1. Adam Wainwright earned his eighth victory and Tommy Edman went 2-for-4 with a double for St. Louis. Joe Musgrove took his 11th loss for Pittsburgh.
TOP PERFORMERS: Paul DeJong leads the Cardinals with 47 extra base hits and is batting .252. Edman is 9-for-38 with three doubles, a triple and an RBI over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 27 home runs home runs and is slugging .574. Reynolds is 14-for-39 with three doubles, two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 4-6, .235 batting average, 2.94 ERA, outscored by five runs
Pirates: 2-8, .235 batting average, 5.59 ERA, outscored by 19 runs
Cardinals Injuries: Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Tony Cingrani: (shoulder), Brett Cecil: (wrist/forearm), Tyler O'Neill: (wrist), Yadier Molina: (thumb).
Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: (elbow), Edgar Santana: (elbow), Chad Kuhl: (elbow), Clay Holmes: (triceps), Rookie Davis: (finger/forearm), Nick Burdi: (biceps), Gregory Polanco: (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: (finger), Francisco Cervelli: (concussion).
