Pittsburgh @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 31, 2010 ) Pittsburgh 1, St. Louis 11
The St. Louis Cardinals' offense got back on track Saturday. On Sunday, it's Adam Wainwright's turn.
Wainwright attempts to rebound from his worst start of the season today as the Cardinals try to complete a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the finale of their three-game series.
After scoring two runs or less in five of its previous eight games, St. Louis erupted for a double-digit output Saturday, rolling to an 11-1 victory. Colby Rasmus homered and drove in three runs while Albert Pujols went 3-for-5 with a solo blast for the Cardinals, who have won nine of their last 10 at home.
Jeff Suppan, who also had an RBI, tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings en route to his first win since Sept. 19. Against the Chicago Cubs in his previous outing, the 35-year-old had allowed five runs and 10 hits over six innings.
St. Louis is hopeful that watching Suppan bounce back from a bad start inspires Wainwright to do the same.
On Tuesday, Wainwright was tagged for six runs and six hits in five innings of an 8-2 loss to the New York Mets. The right-hander was virtually untouchable prior to that, going 4-0 while allowing just one run in 35 1/3 innings over five starts.
Wainwright, who boasts a perfect 10-0 record and 1.22 ERA in 11 outings at home this season, is 6-2 with a 5.07 ERA in 15 meetings - four relief appearances - against the Pirates. The 28-year-old gave up two runs and five hits over six innings of an 11-4 triumph over Pittsburgh on May 9.
Garrett Jones has had some success against Wainwright, going 5-for-9 with three RBIs.
Wainwright will be facing another struggling offensive team in the Pirates, who have scored a total of one run over 19 innings in the first two games of this series. Pittsburgh has lost 27 of its last 31 road contests and seven of nine overall.
Opposing Wainwright will be Zach Duke, who has won two straight after five consecutive losses.
On Tuesday, Duke surrendered two runs and three hits in six innings of a 4-2 victory at Colorado. Duke enters with a 3-4 record and 5.95 ERA in seven road starts this year.
The 27-year old left-hander is 4-5 with a 3.45 ERA in 14 career starts against St. Louis. Duke yielded three unearned runs and nine hits over 6 1/3 innings but settled for a no-decision in a 4-3 loss to the Cardinals.
Pujols is hitting .421 (16-for-38) with three home runs and four RBIs vs. Duke, while Matt Holliday is 9-for-17 (.529) with a homer and four RBIs. Yadier Molina, meanwhile, is 10-for-29 (.345) with six RBIs.
Trying to avoid being swept, Pittsburgh has lost 10 of its last 12 road series.
Both teams were active prior to Saturday's non-waiver trade deadline, with the Cardinals strengthening their rotation by acquiring Jake Westbrook from the Cleveland Indians in a three-team deal that saw St. Louis send outfielder Ryan Ludwick to San Diego. Westbrook is scheduled to start against Houston on Monday.
The Pirates once again were sellers, trading closer Octavio Dotel to the Los Angeles Dodgers, sending left-handed reliever Javier Lopez to the San Francisco Giants and shuttling Bobby Crosby, Ryan Church and D.J. Carrasco to the Arizona Diamondbacks for catcher Chris Snyder.