Cardinals at Pirates
Climbing atop the National League Central is proving to be a difficult chore for the St. Louis Cardinals, but collecting victories inside the division has been a much easier task. The Cardinals eye their 11th win in the last 13 games Friday when they open a three-game set in Pittsburgh against the Pirates.
St. Louis (15-9) hasn't been able to overtake Milwaukee atop the division thanks to the Brewers' eight-game winning streak, but the Cardinals have been among the hottest teams in the NL since their 5-7 start, going 8-1 against division rivals Cincinnati and the Chicago Cubs to improve to 11-4 against the Central. That success from April 12-22 carried over to the team's most recent series, as St. Louis ventured outside the division for only the third time this season and claimed two of three from the New York Mets. Pittsburgh has cooled off since an 11-4 start, although the Pirates righted the ship a bit by kicking off their six-game homestand with two wins in three contests against Detroit. This weekend will mark the first meetings of the year between the longtime division rivals after St. Louis went 11-8 against Pittsburgh in 2017 - the fourth consecutive season the Cardinals won the season series.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Miles Mikolas (3-0, 3.46 ERA) vs. Pirates LH Steven Brault (2-1, 4.44)
Mikolas has walked only two over 26 innings and befuddled Cincinnati for the second time in as many starts Sunday, permitting two runs (one earned) on five hits across seven innings. The 29-year-old Floridian was even sharper eight days earlier versus the Reds when he yielded one run on four hits in seven frames - a turn that followed a pair of outings against Milwaukee in which he surrendered eight runs over 12 innings. Sean Rodriguez has a homer in three at-bats against Mikolas, who hasn't faced Pittsburgh since 2012.
Brault struggled with his control again Saturday at Philadelphia and has issued 11 free passes while recording only 12 strikeouts over 21 1/3 innings as a starter. The Regis University product did not factor into the decision against the Phillies after allowing two runs on two hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings. Brault gave up two runs in four relief frames versus the Cardinals last year, but his only career start against them came in his big-league debut in 2016 - a no-decision in which he yielded one earned run over four innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cardinals OF Tommy Pham went 4-for-6 against the Mets on Thursday, the fourth time he's had at least three hits in 22 contests this season.
2. Pittsburgh OF Starling Marte has played in each of his team's 25 games and reached base safely in 24 of them.
3. St. Louis has allowed a majors-low four stolen bases.