Jameson Taillon (3-4, 3.25 ERA) and Mike Leake (9-9, 4.56 ERA) take the hill in the last of a three-game series between the Pittsburgh Pirates (67-69) and the St. Louis Cardinals (73-64) at PNC Park. The Pirates lost the last game 9-7, continuing an eight-game losing streak. Action begins at 7:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sep. 7 and can be seen on FSMW, RTPT and ESPN.
Taillon pitched 6.0 innings in his last outing, surrendering one run and striking out four in a 1-0 defeat to the Brewers. Starling Marte (.311, 71 Rs, 9 HRs, 46 RBIs, 47 SBs) continued his strong play yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one run. Leake went 7.0 innings, surrendering zero runs, striking out eight and walking one in a 9-0 win over the Phillies in his most recent start. Jedd Gyorko (.243, 49 Rs, 26 HRs, 51 RBIs) went 1 for 5 yesterday.
Notes
For the 20th time this season, the Cardinals registered at least two errors in a game.
The Pirates are coming into this game after allowing two walks during their last outing. The Cardinals have an 18-30 record when opponents give up two walks or less.
The Cardinals are coming into the game with three consecutive wins, while the Pirates currently have a losing streak of eight.
When they outhit their opponents, the Pirates are 43-12. The Cardinals have a 51-7 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 17th, Pittsburgh is in the bottom half of the league in runs, scoring 610 this season. St. Louis ranks in the top five at fourth with 679.
Ranking 19th, Pittsburgh is in the bottom half of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.732). St. Louis ranks in the top five at third with an OPS of .780.
The Cardinals are 39-41 in games where they allow one or more home runs. The Pirates are 36-55 when they allow at least one homer.
