St. Louis @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 4, 2014 ) St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 12

Coming off a terrific season debut in which he did not record a decision, Francisco Liriano will look to get into the win column Saturday when the Pittsburgh Pirates continue their home series with the St. Louis Cardinals. Liriano did not allow a run in six innings and struck out 10 Cubs in Pittsburgh's season opener - a strong start to 2014 after the veteran lefty won a career-high 16 games in 2013. “I'm trying to go deeper into games. That's why I want to throw more fastballs," said Liriano who threw only 45 fastballs out of 104 pitches against Chicago. "I'm still working on it.”

Liriano, who dominated the Cardinals in three starts last season, can only hope to get the type of run support that Gerrit Cole received on Friday. After scoring a total of seven runs in 35 innings during their opening series versus Chicago, the Pirates broke through for 12 runs and 16 hits in the opener of their three-game set with the Cardinals. St. Louis needs more help from its right-handed hitters, as Allen Craig, Yadier Molina and Jhonny Peralta are all hitting below .200 on the young season.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Joe Kelly (2013: 10-5, 2.69 ERA) vs. Pirates LH Francisco Liraino (0-0, 0.00)

Kelly was outpitched by Carlos Martinez for much of the exhibition season, but the 25-year-old right-hander was named the Cardinals' fifth starter due largely to his experience. Kelly was terrific on the road last season, going 5-1 with a 2.07 ERA away from Busch Stadium. He appeared in six regular-season games against Pittsburgh - three starts - and went 3-1 with a 2.53 ERA, in addition to a solid outing when the teams met in the National League Division Series.

Liriano won all three of his regular-season starts versus St. Louis in 2013, posting a 0.75 ERA and holding Cardinals hitters to a .127 average. Liriano is 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA lifetime against the Cardinals - not counting a strong performance in Game 3 of the NLDS - but he did struggle with his command in Monday's season opener. The 30-year-old Dominican threw strikes on only 10 of his 24 first pitches and threw 60 of 104 pitches for strikes overall, walking three batters.

WALK-OFFS

1. As old American League Central rivals, Peralta has faced Liriano more than 40 times in his career, posting a .351 average with a pair of homers.

2. Molina, who went 0-for-4 on Friday, batted only .173 in 52 at-bats against Pittsburgh last season.

3. The Cardinals' pitching staff has surrendered 18 runs over the last two games after giving up only one over its first two contests.

PREDICTION: Pirates 2, Cardinals 1