Pittsburgh @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 29, 2018 ) Pittsburgh 2, St. Louis 0

The St. Louis Cardinals have won nine consecutive series, a streak that is in jeopardy going into the rubber match of a three-game series with the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. The Cardinals managed five hits and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in dropping a 2-0 decision to the Pirates on Wednesday after winning the series opener.

St. Louis has been shut out five times this year and three of them have come against Pittsburgh, which utilized four pitchers in the five-hitter. The setback Wednesday left the Cardinals 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central division. Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco had RBI singles Wednesday to lead the way for the Pirates, which won for just the fourth time in their last 15 games. A pair of right-handers both with five wins and identical ERAs meet in the series finale when Pittsburgh turns to Joe Musgrove opposite John Gant for St. Louis.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Joe Musgrove (5-7, 3.56 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH John Gant (5-5, 3.56)

Musgrove had a string of five straight quality starts come to an end Friday at Milwaukee, which got to him for four runs in four innings. He had a 2.12 ERA over those previous five outings, including seven innings of one-run ball against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 18. The 25-year-old opened his season May 25 with seven scoreless innings in a win against the Cardinals.

Gant lasted a season high-tying seven innings while allowing one run in a no-decision at Colorado on Saturday. It marked the seventh time in his last eight starts that he has yielded two earned runs or fewer. The one outlier in that stretch was a rocky outing at Pittsburgh on Aug. 3, when the 26-year-old was reached for six runs and eight hits in four frames.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cardinals 1B Matt Carpenter was removed from Wednesday's game in the fourth inning due to a stomach issue.

2. Polanco is 13-for-36 with seven RBIs over his last nine games.

3. St. Louis placed INF Jedd Gyorko (groin) on the 10-day disabled list and recalled OF Adolis Garcia from Triple-A Memphis.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 4, Pirates 3