Gerrit Cole (5-4, 2.85 ERA) and Michael Wacha (2-6, 5.16 ERA) take the hill in the first of a three-game series between the Pittsburgh Pirates (32-28) and the St. Louis Cardinals (32-28) at PNC Park. Action begins at 7:05 p.m. ET on Friday, Jun. 10 and can be seen on FSMW and RTPT.
Cole pitched 6.2 innings in his last outing, surrendering three runs, striking out four and walking one in a 5-4 defeat to the Angels. David Freese (.293, 28 Rs, 5 HRs, 22 RBIs) went 1 for 3 yesterday with one run, one home run, and three RBIs. Wacha went 5.0 innings, surrendering four runs, striking out four and walking two in a 7-4 win over the Giants in his most recent start. Brandon Moss (.247, 31 Rs, 13 HRs, 30 RBIs) has been successful at the plate for the Cardinals, going 2 for 4 yesterday with one RBI.
Notes
In their last game, the Cardinals won by a margin of one run. The Pirates are 9-8 in one-run games. The Cardinals have a 4-8 record in close games.
The Pirates managed to give up five walks in their last game. They’ll have to pick it up against the Cardinals who are coming in with an 11-5 record against opponents who give up that many walks or more.
It looks like the Cardinals have a slight leg up on the Pirates, as the Cardinals have won their last two games while the Pirates have lost their last two.
When they outhit their opponents, the Pirates are 24-7. The Cardinals have a 26-4 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking sixth in runs, Pittsburgh has earned 293 this season. St. Louis ranks second with 328 runs.
Pittsburgh and St. Louis both rank in the top five of the league for their on-base plus slugging percentage. Pittsburgh sits at fifth with an OPS of .780, and St. Louis ranks second with an OPS of .799.
When the Cardinals allow at least one home run, they are 18-21, well-matched with the Pirates who are 18-22 when allowing at least one homer.
