St. Louis @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 30, 2013 ) St. Louis 0, Pittsburgh 5

First place in the National League Central is on the line Saturday, when the Pittsburgh Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals in the second contest of a three-game set. Pittsburgh delivered the opening salvo with a 5-0 win on Friday to climb into a tie with the Cardinals atop the division with identical 78-56 records. St. Louis has lost consecutive games by a combined 15-0 score and is just 5-9 against the Pirates this season.

Pittsburgh's Garrett Jones broke out of a deep slump in the opener by going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and slamming the 100th homer of his career. Jones, who was kept out of the starting lineup for three straight games, went 1-for-29 over an 11-game span and had just seven hits this month before breaking out on Friday. The Cardinals recorded only four hits while being blanked for the 10th time this season – and the fourth time by the Pirates.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), ROOT (Pittsburgh)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (13-8, 4.02 ERA) vs. Pirates RH A.J. Burnett (6-9, 3.18)

Lynn is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA during a four-start winless stretch, including a loss to Atlanta on Sunday in which he gave up four runs and seven hits over seven innings. He has gone 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in four outings against the Pirates this season, recording two victories in April before receiving no-decisions on July 30 and August 15. Lynn is 5-5 with a 4.96 ERA in 13 road starts.

Burnett has struggled over his last four outings, going 1-2 with a 5.55 ERA. One of the starts was a no-decision against the Cardinals in which he yielded five runs and eight hits in just 4 1/3 innings. Overall, Burnett is 2-0 with a 2.96 ERA in four starts against St. Louis this season to boost his career mark versus the Cardinals to 7-5 in 15 career outings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cardinals LF Matt Holliday had his 11th two-hit performance of the month on Friday and is batting .333 with five homers and 21 RBIs in August.

2. Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen is 4-for-23 with eight strikeouts against Lynn.

3. St. Louis 2B Matt Carpenter is 8-for-18 while OF Carlos Beltran is batting .282 with two homers and 10 RBIs in 39 at-bats against Burnett.

PREDICTION: Pirates 4, Cardinals 3