The St. Louis Cardinals came out of their tailspin by winning the final game of the Baltimore Orioles series just in time to host their division rival Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend. It appears that the Cardinals will avoid facing Paul Skenes, but the team faces numerous roster challenges due to injuries. Let's take a look at what this weekend matchup looks like:
Scheduled Starters According to MLB.com :
Friday night, August 28: Jared Jones RHP 2-5, 4.76 ERA, 77 SO vs Quinn Mathews (LHP 0-2, 6.43 ERA, 13 SO)
Saturday afternoon, August 29: TBD vs Kyle Leahy (RHP 10-4, 3.13 ERA, 115 SO)
Sunday afternoon, August 30: Braxton Ashcraft (RHP 13-5, 3.59 ERA, 161 SO) vs Matthew Liberatore (LHP 5-12, 5.44 ERA, 132)
Jared Jones has lost 2 of his last 3 starts. His most recent outing was August 22 against the Dodgers where he pitched 4 innings allowing 3 hits while giving up 2 earned runs striking out 5, but also walking 5. Braxton Ashcraft looks to be the most formidable Pirates starter this weekend as he's won 2 of his last 3 starts. His last outing was August 24 against the Padres where he received a no decision throwing 6 innings allowing just 4 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 2 and walking just 1. I've seen speculation that Pittsburgh will start Carmen Mlodzinski Saturday afternoon, but haven't heard any confirmation yet. His last appearance was on August 23 against the Dodgers where he pitched 3 innings giving up 5 hits and 3 earned runs while striking out 4 and walking no one.
While the Cardinals have lost 5 of their last 6, the Pirates have just finished winning a 3-game series against the Padres. Pittsburgh was shut out Wednesday 3-0 with just 5 hits. Let's hope that trend continues. Over the last 10 games, the Pirates are 5-5 while the Cardinals are just 3-7 over the same period. As the weekend series begins, St. Louis is just 2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the division. As far as the big picture goes, St. Louis is now 5.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot with the Marlins, Diamondbacks and Padres all sitting above them in the standings.
Who are the Pittsburgh Pirates to watch?
Brandon Lowe (2B) – Lowe leads the Pirates with 27 home runs and 80 RBI's with a batting average of just .249.
O'Neil Cruz (CF) – Cruz is tied for second in home runs for the Pirates with 17 with 52 RBI's and 22 stolen bases.
Ryan O'Hearn (1B) – O'Hearn also has 17 dingers with 69 RBI's and a batting average of .270.
Bryan Reynolds (LF) – Reynolds has 15 home runs with 66 RBI's and a batting average of .263.
Nick Gonzales (3B) – Gonzales leads the Pirates in hits with 145 for the season. He only has 6 home runs, but 56 RBI's.
Esmerlyn Valdez (RF) – Valdez has 15 home runs with 42 RBI's and a batting average of .249.
The Cardinals roster is starting to look like a M.A.S.H. unit with Hunter Dobbins being shut down from throwing with right forearm tightness. Blaze Jordan's exit in the 8th inning of Thursday's game against the Orioles looks like it's a significant ankle injury which may end his season. Andre Pallante is slated for a batting practice session , but there's no exact ETA on when he'll rejoin the rotation. On the good news front, it doesn't appear that the Cardinals will have to resort to a bullpen game, but that's what happened in the only game we won in the past week so maybe that's not a good thing.
It's STILL not too late for St. Louis to get hot and make a run at the final Wild Card slot, but the pessimist in me wonders if we'll be trailing the Pirates by the time the weekend ends. I don't enjoy feeling this way and would love to be forced to eat my negative thoughts by Sunday night. I've been through the ups and downs of this franchise for more than five decades and I'm not jumping ship now. I'll be following every inning of every game because that's what us diehard Cardinals fans do. Who knows? Perhaps this young Cardinals squad will rediscover some of the magic they found early this season. Friday night against the Pirates is another opportunity for that to begin to happen.
