Pittsburgh Pirates (17-17, fourth in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (22-16, third in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Trevor Williams (1-1, 3.74 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 32 strikeouts) Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (1-3, 4.71 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 29 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis will sweep the series over Pittsburgh with a win.
The Cardinals are 11-10 against NL Central teams. St. Louis ranks second in the majors in hitting with a .263 batting average, Jose Martinez leads the team with an average of .346.
The Pirates are 6-6 against the rest of their division. The Cardinals won the last meeting 17-4. Michael Wacha earned his third victory and Marcell Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a double and four RBIs for St. Louis. Joe Musgrove took his fourth loss for Pittsburgh.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ozuna leads the Cardinals with 11 home runs and is batting .244. Yadier Molina is 11-for-31 with three doubles, a home run and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 37 hits and is batting .294. Gregory Polanco is 11-for-36 with four doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 4-6, .243 batting average, 4.08 ERA, outscored by five runs
Pirates: 5-5, .249 batting average, 6.19 ERA, outscored by 23 runs
Cardinals Injuries: Mike Mayers: 10-day IL (shoulder), Carlos Martinez: 10-day IL (shoulder), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm).
Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: 10-day IL (elbow), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Keone Kela: 10-day IL (shoulder), Nick Burdi: 10-day IL (biceps), Chris Archer: 10-day IL (thumb), Corey Dickerson: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 10-day IL (finger), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Jacob Stallings: 10-day IL (neck).
