Cardinals at Pirates
The St. Louis Cardinals made sure they would not be suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in nearly a month by pummeling the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday and added a game to their lead in the National League Central in the process. The Cardinals will try to clinch a series win when they visit the Pirates for the finale of the three-game series on Sunday.
St. Louis squandered a three-run lead in Friday's 9-4 setback but jumped out early and kept building on Saturday, with Marcell Ozuna breaking out of a slump to lead the way with a three-run homer and three runs scored in the 10-1 drubbing. The victory pushed the Cardinals' lead over the rival Chicago Cubs in the Central to 3 1/2 games with 20 games remaining in the regular season. The Pirates are sitting in the NL Central basement but are trying to finish strong and have gone over two weeks without dropping back-to-back games. Pittsburgh will go for the series win behind rookie James Marvel on Sunday while the Cardinals turn to budding ace Jack Flaherty.
TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (9-7, 3.14 ERA) vs. Pirates RH James Marvel (NR)
Flaherty has been dominant in the second half of the season and breezed through eight scoreless innings against San Francisco on Tuesday, surrendering one hit and striking out eight in the win. The 23-year-old owned a 4.90 ERA after getting knocked around at Seattle on July 2 but turned his season around from there and owns a 0.90 ERA while holding opponents to a .141 batting average over his last 11 starts. Flaherty last saw Pittsburgh on July 16 and scattered one run and three hits over seven innings while striking out eight.
Marvel is making his major league debut after breezing through the top two levels of the minors. The 25-year-old former 36th-round draft pick went 7-0 with a 2.67 ERA in 11 starts after being promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis and tossed five scoreless innings in his last outing at Louisville on Monday. Marvel excels at keeping the ball in the ballpark and surrendered three home runs in 60 2/3 innings for Indianapolis.
WALK-OFFS
1. Former Cardinals 1B/OF Chris Duncan, 38, died late Friday after a battle with brain cancer.
2. Pittsburgh 2B Adam Frazier is 17-for-36 in his last nine games.
3. St. Louis C Yadier Molina hit safely in each of his last 14 starts.