Pirates host the Cardinals in division matchup
St. Louis Cardinals (79-62, first in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (62-79, fifth in the NL Central)
Pittsburgh; Saturday, 7 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (10-9, 4.30 ERA) Pirates: Steven Brault (4-3, 3.88 ERA)
LINE: Cardinals -131; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: NL Central rivals Pittsburgh and St. Louis will play on Saturday.
The Pirates are 25-37 against NL Central teams. The Pittsburgh offense has compiled a .267 batting average as a team this season, good for sixth in the National League. Bryan Reynolds leads the team with a mark of .335.
The Cardinals have gone 38-26 against division opponents. The St. Louis pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.85, Miles Mikolas paces the staff with a mark of 4.32. The Cardinals won the last meeting 11-9. John Gant earned his eighth victory and Lane Thomas went 2-for-5 with a triple, a home run and five RBIs for St. Louis. Kyle Crick took his seventh loss for Pittsburgh.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 76 extra base hits and is batting .278. Reynolds is 18-for-49 with five doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 79 RBIs and is batting .260. Yadier Molina is 13-for-29 with four doubles, three home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 6-4, .317 batting average, 5.34 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs
Cardinals: 7-3, .261 batting average, 2.83 ERA, outscored opponents by 16 runs
Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: (elbow), Chris Stratton: (torso), Edgar Santana: (elbow), Yefry Ramirez: (calf), Joe Musgrove: (foot), Chad Kuhl: (elbow), Mitch Keller: (hand), Nick Burdi: (biceps), Chris Archer: (shoulder), Gregory Polanco: (shoulder), Jason Martin: (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: (finger).
Cardinals Injuries: Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Tony Cingrani: (shoulder), Brett Cecil: (wrist/forearm), Lane Thomas: (wrist).
