Cardinals at Pirates
After about 1 1/2 weeks of being able to seemingly do nothing right, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the middle of a stretch during which they can seemingly can do no wrong. The Pirates eye a fifth straight victory and their first home sweep of the season on Sunday, when they complete a three-game weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Pittsburgh lost seven of eight to ruin an 11-4 start, mustering more than two runs only twice during its dismal stretch. The offense has been clicking recently, however, as the Pirates have pushed across six runs four times during their 4-1 homestand - including Saturday's 6-2 victory in which Francisco Cervelli hit a solo homer and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to continue his hot start. Conversely, St. Louis entered Pittsburgh with wins in 10 of its previous 12 and on the brink of taking a lead atop the National League Central before watching the Pirates do so instead. The Cardinals could manage only five hits on Saturday, although Marcell Ozuna and Tommy Pham both were able to keep alive modest hitting and RBI streaks.
TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS Midwest (St. Louis), AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Luke Weaver (2-1, 4.85 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Nick Kingham (NR)
Weaver struggled again in Tuesday's no-decision against the New York Mets, issuing a career-high six walks while yielding four runs and two hits across 4 2/3 innings. The Florida State product was tagged for six runs over four frames five days earlier, ruining a solid three-game start to the season during which he went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA. Josh Bell and Jordy Mercer are both 2-for-4 against Weaver, who is 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA in three career outings (two starts) versus the Pirates.
Kingham is expected to make his major-league debut Sunday to keep the rest of Pittsburgh's rotation on schedule after the team played a doubleheader on Wednesday. Considered the organization's No. 13 prospect by MLB.com, the 26-year-old has lived up to his advanced billing so far this season at Triple-A Indianapolis, going 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA in four turns. Kingham is 43-41 with a 3.37 ERA in 138 appearances (133 starts) during his minor-league career.
WALK-OFFS
1. With his fourth homer of the season on Saturday, Cervelli has two fewer blasts in 22 contests this year than he did in 182 games over his last two injury-plagued seasons combined.
2. St. Louis clubbed 31 homers over its first 22 games but has been held to two over its last four - both from 3B Jedd Gyorko.
3. Mercer went 1-for-4 on Saturday and has hit safely in all 12 of his home games this season.