Flaherty expected to start as Cardinals host the Pirates

Published

Pittsburgh Pirates (44-49, fourth in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (47-45, second in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Tuesday, 8:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Dario Agrazal (2-0, 2.81 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 7 strikeouts) Cardinals: Jack Flaherty (4-6, 4.64 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 107 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE:

The Cardinals are 16-17 against teams from the NL Central. St. Louis has hit 112 home runs as a team this season. Paul Goldschmidt leads the team with 17, averaging one every 20.2 at-bats.

The Pirates are 18-22 against NL Central Division teams. Pittsburgh ranks third in the MLB in hitting with a .270 batting average, Bryan Reynolds leads the team with an average of .347. The Cardinals won the last meeting 7-0. Miles Mikolas notched his sixth victory and Tyler O'Neill went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs for St. Louis. Joe Musgrove registered his eighth loss for Pittsburgh.

TOP PERFORMERS: Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 40 RBIs and is batting .253. O'Neill is 12-for-32 with three doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.

Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 61 extra base hits and is batting .295. Starling Marte is 11-for-39 with two doubles, a triple, three home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 6-4, .261 batting average, 3.21 ERA, outscored opponents by 13 runs

Pirates: 4-6, .284 batting average, 6.10 ERA, outscored by 12 runs

Cardinals Injuries: Mike Mayers: 60-day IL (shoulder), Jordan Hicks: 60-day IL (elbow), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm), Marcell Ozuna: 10-day IL (hand), Jedd Gyorko: 10-day IL (back), Matt Carpenter: day-to-day (foot), Yadier Molina: 10-day IL (thumb).

Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: 60-day IL (elbow), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Keone Kela: 60-day IL (shoulder), Rookie Davis: 10-day IL (finger/forearm), Nick Burdi: 60-day IL (biceps), Steven Brault: 10-day IL (shoulder), Gregory Polanco: 10-day IL (shoulder), Corey Dickerson: day-to-day (groin), Lonnie Chisenhall: 60-day IL (finger), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Francisco Cervelli: 10-day IL (concussion).