On Sunday, the St. Louis Cardinals will conclude their three-game series on the road against National League Central rivals the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In the opening game of the series on Friday, the Pirates won 7-1 as Joe Musgrove debuted in fine form on the mound and at the plate. Musgrove returned from the disabled list and pitched seven shutout innings and recorded his first-ever hit in the majors. Musgrove singled in the sixth innings when Pittsburgh put three runs across the plate against loser John Gant. On the mound, Musgrove allowed just five hits while striking out seven. Musgrove was acquired by the Pirates in the offseason trade that sent Gerrit Cole to the Astros. The only Cardinals run was thanks to a solo home run by Tommy Pham in the eighth. The loss was the third straight for the slumping Cardinals.
Jose Martinez leads the Cardinals with a .306 batting average and team high in hits with 53 and RBIs with 30. Tommy Pham leads the team in home runs with nine. St. Louis has a team batting average of .238, while opposing hitters are averaging .241 at the plate against Cardinals pitching. On Sunday, the Cardinals will send Miles Mikolas to the mound. The right-hander this season is 6-0 with an ERA of 2.24, 46 Ks and 6 BBs.
Corey Dickerson leads the Pirates with a .319 batting average and team high in hits with 58 and RBIs with 31. Gregory Polanco has the team lead in home runs with eight. Pittsburgh has a team batting average of .260 while opposing hitters are averaging .249 at the plate against Pirates pitching. Pittsburgh will send Jameson Taillon to the mound on Sunday. The right-hander this season is 2-4 with an ERA of 4.56, 48 Ks and 16 BBs.
