The Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that has been struggling lately, will try to snap out of their funk when they visit the St. Louis Cardinals for a three game series on Friday, April 25 2014. It will be the second meeting between the division rivals this season, and the Cardinals will be looking for some payback after losing two out of three in Pittsburgh.
Pitching Matchup.
In a repeat of their first matchup of the season, Gerrit Cole will get the start for Pittsburgh, while Shelby Miller will take the mound for St. Louis, with the hopes of snapping his losing streak against the Pirates.
Gerrit Cole will try to get his second win against St. Louis this season, after winning his first game against them earlier in the month. He gave up two runs, with three strikeouts, and two walks in seven innings. He has a 3.67 ERA, and is 2-1 in four appearances this season; he also has 22 strikeouts, and has walked eight batters.
Shelby Miller still hasn't figured out how to beat the Pirates, and his hoping to finally get a win against them at home. He has a 3.57 ERA for the season after four starts, and that is mostly because he allowed a season high 5 runs against the Pirates when he pitched against them earlier this season, dropping his record to 0-5 in his career against Pittsburgh. He has an overall record of 1-2 this season; he has thrown 21 strikeouts, and walked 14 batters so far.
The Pirates inability to sign big name free agents, and keep players like A.J. Burnett from leaving seems to be costing them some games right now. They started the season well, but have been in a serious slump for most of the month of April. They are 10th in the league when it comes to batting, so that isn't a major area of concern for the team, and are also one of the best defensive teams in the league, with a .986 fielding percentage, and 12 errors so far this season. Their pitching is what is costing them games so far this season, and they will need to find a way to improve their pitching if they plan on making it back to the playoffs.
The Cardinals were one of the favorites coming into the season, they made it to the World Series last year, but lost to the Boston Red Sox because they couldn't get their bats going, and also couldn't find a way to slow David Ortiz down. They haven't been very sharp so far this season, they are currently 12-9, and three games behind the surprising Milwaukee Brewers, who are currently in 1st place. The Cardinals aren't hitting well, which is due in part to the loss of Carlos Beltran to the Yankees, and David Freese to the Angels. While those losses hurt the team, they have to find a way to regroup, just like they did when they lost Albert Pujols two years ago.
Game Line: The betting lines for this game is not yet available.
Personal Pick: The Pirates are not playing very well right now; I think Shelby Miller will finally get his first career win against them on Friday.
Both teams cannot afford to lose too many division games, so fans should expect to see a hard fought contest.