Pirates at Cardinals
After winding up on the wrong end of three consecutive one-run games in their first visit to St. Louis, the Pittsburgh Pirates turned to an ex-Cardinal in order to end their recent struggles at Busch Stadium. David Freese hopes to haunt his former team yet again Saturday as his Pirates continue their three-game series in St. Louis.
Pittsburgh dropped three straight 2-1 decisions in St. Louis from April 17-19 after entering the series with a .500 record, and it hasn't been able to get back to the break-even mark since. Freese, who has reached base safely in each of his 14 career starts against the Cardinals, gave Pittsburgh the jolt it needed in Friday's 4-3 win with a game-tying RBI single in the eighth before John Jaso delivered a solo home run one inning later to seal it. St. Louis continued its recent homer-happy ways with two more in the opener, but Jose Martinez's two-run shot and Paul DeJong's solo blast weren't enough in the team's first home setback against the Pirates in eight meetings. The Cardinals have homered in a season-high 12 consecutive games and scored 33 of their last 42 runs via the long ball.
TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, FOX
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Gerrit Cole (5-6, 4.28 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (5-4, 3.33)
Cole was masterful in Monday's win at Milwaukee, giving up one run and three hits across seven innings after posting a similar line six days earlier against Colorado. The 26-year-old UCLA product seems to have recovered from a four-start stretch during which he surrendered 23 runs and 39 hits in 19 1/3 frames and found the form that allowed him to post a 2.84 ERA after his first nine turns. Cole lost at St. Louis on April 19 despite permitting two runs in six innings, falling to 5-4 with a 2.84 ERA in 11 career starts against the Cardinals.
Lynn's strong start this month came to a crashing halt Sunday in Baltimore as he surrendered a career-high four homers among the seven runs and nine hits he allowed over 4 2/3 innings. The one-time All-Star, who hasn't lasted more than 5 1/3 frames in any of his last five outings, had opened June by allowing a total of three runs and eight hits while striking out 18 across 15 1/3 innings. Lynn worked seven scoreless frames on April 17 to earn his first victory of the season against the Pirates.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pirates 1B Josh Bell's 14 home runs are the second-most by a Pittsburgh rookie before the All-Star break since Hall-of-Famer Ralph Kiner hit 15 in 1946.
2. Cardinals closer Seung-Hwan Oh has surrendered as many homers (five) in 33 1/3 innings this year as he did in 79 2/3 frames last season.
3. Freese is hitting .333 in 18 overall games versus his former team and .357 in the 14 starts he has made against St. Louis.