Cardinals at Pirates
The St. Louis Cardinals are racking up the runs and the splurges are translating into victories. St. Louis has scored 11 runs in each of the first two of a four-game series while beating the host Pittsburgh Pirates and looks to win for the 11th time in 14 contests on Saturday in the third of four matchups between the clubs.
The Cardinals have tallied eight or more runs in eight of their past 12 games, and reached double digits five times during the stretch. Matt Carpenter, Paul DeJong and Tommy Pham all homered in Friday's 11-10 victory as St. Louis remained 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central. Pittsburgh has dropped six straight decisions despite scoring 17 runs in the first two games of the series. Josh Harrison homered in both games to raise his total to a career-best 14 for the Pirates, who have fallen 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (9-5, 3.85 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Chad Kuhl (5-8, 4.64)
Wacha lost to the Atlanta Braves in his last outing when he gave up four runs and eight hits over five innings. The 26-year-old won seven of his previous eight decisions and gave up two or fewer runs in six of the victories. Wacha defeated the Pirates on April 19 when he gave up one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings to improve to 4-2 with a 3.94 ERA in 12 career appearances (11 starts) against them.
Kuhl lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in his last turn when he gave up five runs (four earned) and four hits over five innings. The 24-year-old has struggled at home this season by going 3-4 with a 5.15 ERA in 12 starts at PNC Park. Kuhl is 0-2 with a 5.50 ERA in four career starts against St. Louis, including an 0-1 mark and 4.91 ERA in two 2017 outings.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Cardinals placed veteran RHP Adam Wainwright (elbow) on the 10-day disabled list and recalled RHP Mike Mayers from Triple-A Memphis.
2. Pittsburgh recalled LHP Steven Brault from Triple-A Indianapolis and placed LHP Wade LeBlanc (quadriceps) on the DL.
3. St. Louis 2B Kolten Wong (hip), who missed Friday's game, is 17-for-39 with one homer, 11 RBIs and 12 runs scored over his past 11 contests.