Pirates at Cardinals
Mired in their worst slump of the season, the St. Louis Cardinals found the perfect elixir to snap them out of their doldrums - a visit from the division rival Pittsburgh Pirates. After erupting for their best offensive output of the season in Thursday's 17-4 drubbing, the Cardinals look to improve to 4-0 against Pittsburgh this season in the second of the four-game set on Friday night.
St. Louis had lost six of its previous seven and was outscored 16-1 in back-to-back losses to Philadelphia before taking out its frustations on the Pirates to improve to 14-4 in the last 18 meetings. Slumping Paul Goldschmidt had three hits and two RBIs while the Nos. 6-8 hitters in the order - Yadier Molina, Dexter Fowler and Kolten Wong - combined for seven hits and seven RBIs. Gregory Polanco provided the bulk of the offense in the opener of an 11-game road trip for Pittsburgh with a homer, two doubles and three RBIs. The Pirates, who lost a pair of extra-inning games at home to the Cardinals in the first week of the season, are just 3-12 in their last 15 games in St. Louis.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Trevor Williams (1-1, 3.74 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (3-3, 4.71)
Williams has been unable to buy a win since he was victorious in his season debut, but he has made it through six innings in each of his seven starts, including a no-decision versus Oakland last time out in which he was reached for four runs and eight hits. He was tagged for five runs in his previous turn against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which followed a string of five consecutive quality starts. Matt Carpenter is 8-for-19 with three homers off Williams, who made six starts against St. Louis in 2018 and went 2-2 with a 4.94 ERA.
Wainwright had registered quality starts in four of five trips to the mound before he was charged with a season-high five runs on five hits over five innings in a 13-5 loss at the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. He won his previous two outings, pitching 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball at Washington and six innings of one-run ball to beat Milwaukee. Wainwright is 13-7 with a 4.45 ERA against the Pirates, although he did not factor in the decision after giving up four runs and four walks over four innings in his season debut at Pittsburgh.
WALK-OFFS
1. Goldschmidt, who entered the series in a 3-for-25 rut, had his first RBIs since April 23 and first extra-base hit since April 24.
2. Pirates CF Starling Marte is 7-for-18 with four RBIs and four runs scored during a four-game hitting streak.
3. Cardinals LF Marcell Ozuna drove in four runs Thursday after going 3-for-27 over the previous seven games.