The St. Louis Cardinals (81-56, 78-59 RL, 65-67-5 O/U) battle with the Pittsburgh Pirates (50-86, 66-70 RL, 59-66-11 O/U) as the NL Central foes begin a three-game series on Friday night. The Cardinals will give the nod to Miles Mikolas. The Pirates send Roansy Contreras to the mound. The Cardinals lead the season series 8-2.
The Cardinals will have Miles Mikolas take the mound for the 29th time of the season. Mikolas was nearly flawless in his latest outing, tossing eight shutout innings against the Cubs and earned the win to lift his record to 11-10. The veteran right-hander had a shaky month of August but has good numbers, recording a 3.32 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP in 176.1 innings of action. Mikolas has limited the Pirates to three runs (two earned) in 12.1 innings this season and is 5-4 with a sharp 2.83 ERA in 92.1 career innings against the foes.
The Cardinals have been almost just as good on the road where they have won three consecutive series including a triumph in Atlanta. They won two of four against the Nationals this week and feature a huge eight-game lead ahead of the Brewers.
Tommy Edman continues to produce, accumulati ng six RBIs in his last six games. The 27-year-old second baseman is having a career year, bashing 13 homers with 53 RBIs and a .730 OPS. Edman has five RBIs accompanied by a dazzling 1 OPS against the Pirates this season.
The Cardinals are scoring an average of 4.90 runs, placing them third overall. The pitching staff has posted a 3.77 team ERA, good for ninth in the big leagues.