Pirates at Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals have won two in a row and five of their last eight to keep pace in the congested National League Central while a three-game skid has the Pittsburgh Pirates inching closer to the back of the line. The Cardinals aim to keep the Pirates winless since the All-Star break when the clubs open a three-game series in St. Louis on Monday.
Paul Goldschmidt burned his former team by going deep for the third time in six games with a two-run homer in the Cardinals' 5-2 victory over Arizona on Sunday. The six-time All-Star first baseman has 11 hits, eight RBIs and seven runs scored in his last 10 games heading into the series versus Pittsburgh, against which he is 9-for-25 with one homer, five RBIs and four runs scored this season. Bryan Reynolds had an RBI single among his two hits on Sunday, but the Pirates failed to locate any offense outside of their three-run third inning in an 8-3 setback to the Chicago Cubs. The 24-year-old Reynolds has struggled mightily in the season series versus St. Louis, going 1-for-12 with six strikeouts.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Joe Musgrove (6-7, 4.15 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Miles Mikolas (5-9, 4.53)
Musgrove has answered a disastrous six-run performance on June 13 by posting a 2-0 mark with a 1.64 ERA in last four outings. The 26-year-old, however, settled for his second straight no-decision on July 7 after allowing three runs on five hits over six innings versus Milwaukee. Musgrove fell to 1-3 with a 6.95 ERA in four career starts against St. Louis after surrendering a season-high eight runs on six hits across three innings of a 17-4 shellacking on May 9.
Mikolas fell to 1-7 in his last 10 starts on July 6 after permitting five runs on six hits over four innings of an 8-4 setback at San Francisco. The 30-year-old began that disastrous stretch against Pittsburgh on May 11 despite yielding just two runs on three hits in seven strong frames of a 2-1 loss. Adam Frazier is 8-for-21 with six extra-base hits (four doubles, two triples) against Mikolas, who sports a 2-3 record with a 2.96 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in nine career appearances (seven starts) versus Pittsburgh.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pittsburgh 1B Josh Bell is 2-for-18 with nine strikeouts in his last five games.
2. St. Louis OF Tyler O'Neill has three extra-base hits and five RBIs in his last two contests.
3. Pirates INF Kevin Newman has multi-hit performances in five of his last seven games.