This Friday the (59-97) Pittsburgh Pirates and the (90-66) St. Louis Cardinals will play game one of this six-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 8:10 PM EST inside Busch Stadium. This will be the last series of the regular season for both of these teams. The last time they matched up, the Cardinals ended up taking two of three games.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are coming into this one after sweeping the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates looked great at the dish, as they scored 20 combined runs in three games. They will need to keep their bats rolling if they want to challenge the Cardinals to finish the season.
The St. Louis Cardinals are entering this one after splitting their short two-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals struggled at the plate in game two, as they will need to wake up at the dish if they want to pick up some momentum before the postseason begins. < /p>
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will not be playing in the postseason in 2022. They are currently 2-8 in their last 10 games and they are 27.0 games back from the Philadelphia Phillies for the third and final NL Wild Card spot. Pittsburgh is also in last place in the NL Central, as they trail the first-place Cardinals by 31.0 games.
At the plate, the Pirates are scoring 3.72 runs per game and they are hitting .221 as a team. This is the 27th most runs scored per game and the second lowest overall team batting average. They have been bad on the road this season and they have also struggled to make consistent contact with the ball. This has made it much more difficult to score. Pittsburgh has realized that they have a decent amount of power inside of their lineup. They are hitting 1.02 home runs per game, which is the 17th most in the league. Watch for Bryan Reynolds at the dish, as he leads the team with 26 home runs hit this s eason. I also expect the Pirates to stay extremely aggressive once they reach base safely. They have already stolen 85 bases this season, which is the 15th most in the league.
According to MLB.com, the Pirates will be starting Johan Oviedo on the mound, as he is 4-2 with a 3.13 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. In his last start, he pitched for 7.0 innings and he didn't allow an earned run to the Cubs. He has also been great on the road this season, as he is 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA. The Pirate's bullpen has had issues this season, though. They are currently allowing the most runs in the MLB. As a team, the Pirates are surrendering 5.16 runs per game, which is the third most in the league.