St. Louis @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 24, 2010 ) St. Louis 3, Pittsburgh 4
For the fifth time in nine games, the St. Louis Cardinals found themselves dropping a close game to a losing team Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, National League Central leader Cincinnati and wild card leader Philadelphia were losing, marking the Cardinals' defeat with the sting of a missed opportunity.
They don't want to waste another one tonight when they wrap up a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
The Cardinals begin the day 2 1/2 games behind the Reds in the division and a game back of the Phillies and San Francisco in the wild card standings. They swept the Reds two weeks ago in Cincinnati and took two of three from the Giants last weekend in St. Louis.
But five losses in their last six games against sub-.500 teams - four of them by one run - have kept the Cardinals treading water in both races.
Tonight they turn to one of the guys they acquired to help them make up that ground, sending 32-year-old right-hander Jake Westbrook (7-8, 4.48 ERA) to the mound.
Westbrook has posted quality starts in all four outings since the Cardinals acquired him from Cleveland, going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA.
Westbrook has made four relief appearances against the Pirates - but none since 2003 - allowing one run over eight innings. He has not faced any player on Pittsburgh's roster.
In large part, that's because the Pirates' lineup is loaded with young prospects, a couple of whom have anchored the team since the All-Star break.
Outfielder Jose Tabata is hitting .366 since the break and second baseman Neil Walker is batting .319 during the same span. Both had two hits Tuesday, and Walker had three RBIs, including driving in the go-ahead runs with a two-run single in the seventh inning.
Now the Pirates are in position to do something they haven't done in nearly a month - win a series. The last time that happened was when they took two of three at Colorado from July 28-30.
To do so, they'll need a good outing from 27-year-old right-hander Jeff Karstens, who has lost his last eight decisions, including each of his past four starts, since beating Cleveland on June 19.
Karstens (2-10, 4.98 ERA) nearly snapped his losing streak July 30 in St. Louis, when he held the Cardinals scoreless for six innings but came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 loss. He also shut out the Cardinals for six innings on May 8 in Pittsburgh, earning the win in Pittsburgh's 2-0 victory.
Karstens has not surrendered a home run to Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols in nine plate appearances, a streak he'll need to keep intact tonight to avoid becoming a historical footnote.
Pujols is sitting on 399 career home runs and he is inching toward a potential Triple Crown season. Since seeing his average dip to .295 on July 30, Pujols has hit .446 with 10 home runs and 21 RBIs in his past 20 games.
The three-time MVP leads the National League in home runs (33) and RBIs (92), and with a 3-for-5 night Tuesday, his average is up to .322, one point behind Cincinnati's Joey Votto for the league lead.