Cardinals-Pirates is a win-laden matchup almost without precedent
The teams with the two best records in baseball square off in Pittsburgh tonight, a matchup of 95-plus-win teams that is quite rare.
The St. Louis Cardinals have 98 wins and the Pittsburgh Pirates, who trail St. Louis by three games in the NL Central, have 95. As such, they form only the sixth matchup in major league history of teams with 95 or more wins entering the series.
Cardinals outfielder/first baseman Stephen Piscotty's next plate appearance will be his 250th of the season. Piscotty and outfielder Randal Grichuk have been a powerful duo for the Cardinals in their rookie seasons.
SERIES OF THREE-PLUS GAMES BETWEEN TEAMS WITH 95-PLUS WINS*
| Series dates | Road team (W-L) | Home team (W-L) |
| Oct. 2-4, 1909 | Pittsburgh Pirates (107-40) | Chicago Cubs (99-47) |
| Oct. 1-3, 1985 | New York Mets (95-61) | St. Louis Cardinals (98-58) |
| Oct. 4-6, 1985 | New York Yankees (95-63) | Toronto Blue Jays (98-60) |
| Oct. 2-4, 1987 |
Toronto Blue Jays (96-63) | Detroit Tigers (95-64) |
| Sept. 28-30, 2001 | Oakland Athletics (95-58) | Seattle Mariners (109-44) |
| Sept. 28-30, 2015 |
St. Louis Cardinals (98-58) |
Pittsburgh Pirates (95-61) |
| * Based on records entering series. |
When Lance Lynn starts for the Cardinals tonight, he will try to break a season-long trend that has seen him fare better against non-divisional opponents than against NL Central foes.
SMALLEST AVERAGE SCORING MARGIN BETWEEN DIVISIONAL OPPONENTS IN 2015
| Team | Team | Margin |
| Los Angeles Angels | Houston Astros | 2.42 |
| Boston Red Sox | Tampa Bay Rays | 2.47 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | St. Louis Cardinals |
2.50 |
| Washington Nationals | New York Mets | 2.50 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | St. Louis Cardinals |
2.58 |
ROOKIE TEAMMATES EACH WITH .500-PLUS SLUGGING PERCENTAGE*
| TEAM | PLAYERS |
| 1930 St. Louis Cardinals |
George Watkins (.621), Showboat Fisher (.587), Gus Mancuso (.551) |
| 1925 New York Yankees |
Ben Paschal (.611), Lou Gehrig (.531) |
| 1928 Philadelphia Phillies | Chuck Klein (.577), Don Hurst (.508) |
| 2012 Oakland Athletics | Chris Carter (.514), Yoenis Cespedes (.505) |
| 2015 St. Louis Cardinals (season in progress) |
Randal Grichuk (.561), Stephen Piscotty (.507) |
| * Minimum 250 plate appearances each |
LANCE LYNN'S 2015 STATS VS. NL CENTRAL AND VS. REST OF MLB
| Statistic | Vs. NL Central |
Vs. rest of MLB |
| Starts | 14 | 15 |
| W-L | 5-7 | 7-3 |
| ERA | 4.38 | 2.22 |
| Opponent batting average |
.281 | .235 |
| Opponent OPS | .773 | .644 |