Pirates at Cardinals
St. Louis hasn’t been a favorite destination for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have lost six of their last seven and 13 of 16 on the road against the Cardinals going into the finale of a four-game set Sunday. St. Louis has taken two of three in the series with both wins coming on walk-off home runs.
St. Louis closer Bud Norris blew his first save of the season when he gave up a game-tying home run to Austin Meadows in the ninth inning of Saturday. But Kolten Wong gave the Cardinals a 3-2 win with his fourth career walk-off home run - three of which have come against the Pirates. The Cardinals have seven walk-off wins this season, including five that ended with home runs. Pittsburgh has lost six of its last eight and 11 of 15 to slide from its perch atop the National League Central on May 17 to fourth place.
TV: 2:15 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Nick Kingham (2-1, 3.75 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (6-1, 2.71)
Kingham will make his fifth big-league start and his second against St. Louis after striking out nine over seven one-hit innings in a 5-0 win against the Cardinals in his major-league debut April 29. The 26-year-old hasn’t replicated that dominance since, allowing at least three runs in each of his last three starts for the Pirates, but he has been reliable. Kingham has racked up 25 strikeouts against four walks in 24 innings.
Wacha hasn’t lost since his season debut March 31, and he’s only allowed more than two runs once in 10 starts since then. The 26-year-old won at Milwaukee last time out, allowing one run and two hits over 6 2/3 innings, though he issued four walks. Wacha is 5-3 with a 3.89 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) against the Pirates.
WALK-OFFS
1. St. Louis OF Marcell Ozuna hit his 100th career home run Saturday in his 705th career game.
2. Pittsburgh’s bullpen has allowed 10 runs in its last 15 2/3 innings against St. Louis.
3. Meadows is 3-for-3 with two homers and three RBIs in the ninth inning this season and has hit five home runs since May 20.