Cards and Buccos meet in Pittsburgh as two of baseball's best
The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates have been two of the best teams in baseball this season and square off for one last series before the All-Star break. Here's a statistical breakdown of the key four-game set in the Steel City.
The home team has won nearly three-quarters of the regular-season contests between the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates since 2013.
Highest percentage of games in series won by home team since 2013
| Teams | Home team win percentage |
| Cardinals vs. Pirates | 72.7 (32/44) |
| Blue Jays vs. Yankees | 68.2 |
| Giants vs. Padres | 66.7 |
| Padres vs. Rockies | 66.7 |
| Nationals vs. Phillies | 64.7 |
The Cardinals have the best run differential on the road this season, while the Pirates have a solid +44 run differential at home.
Run differential
| Team | Run differential |
| Cardinals' run differential on the road | +44 (best in MLB) |
| Pirates' run differential at home | +44 (t-fifth in MLB) |
The Cardinals and Pirates had solid pitching in 2014, but they stand No. 1 and No. 2 this season, and their improvements in ERA from last year are in the top three.
Largest improvement in ERA
| Team | 2014 | 2015 | Difference |
| Cardinals | 3.50 | 2.65 | -0.85 |
| Twins | 4.57 | 3.81 | -0.76 |
| Pirates | 3.47 | 2.86 | -0.61 |
Now that Miguel Cabrera has gone on the disabled list for the first time, last night's hero for the Cardinals, Jhonny Peralta, has played the most career games among active players without a single DL stint.
Most career games played without DL stint (active players)
| Player | Games |
| Jhonny Peralta | 1623 |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 1577 |
| Jeff Francoeur | 1303 |
| Billy Butler | 1247 |
When Randal Grichuk gets a hit, it usually goes for extra bases.
Highest percentage of hits going for extra bases
| Player | Percentage |
| Randal Grichuk (STL) | 57.8 |
| Mark Teixeira (NYY) | 57.6 |
| Brian Dozier (MIN) | 54.7 |
| Todd Frazier (CIN) | 54.3 |
| Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) | 54.1 |
