St. Louis @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 25, 2010 ) St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 5
Another series against a losing team could spell the end for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will be looking to put the Cardinals out of their misery when the teams open a three-game series on Tuesday.
St. Louis has watched its postseason chances slip away over the last six weeks in the strangest way possbile - an inability to beat the teams that represent the dregs of the National League.
Since taking a one-game lead in the NL Central on Aug. 11, the Cardinals have gone 4-18 against teams with sub-.500 records while posting a .643 winning percentage (9-5) against teams in the playoff chase.
Two of those losses came at Pittsburgh on Aug. 24-25 when St. Louis managed five runs in two games.
They were at it again on Monday, managing just five hits in a 4-0 loss at the Florida Marlins. Chris Carpenter gave up a grand slam to Brad Davis and Albert Pujols went 0-for-3 in the loss. A three-time National League MVP, Pujols has only one hit in the last three games.
All the losses have dropped the Cardinals seven games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the division with just 13 games left on the schedule. The fact that only four of those remaining games are against winning teams makes the task even more difficult based on their recent play.
Pujols and company will be taking their cracks at left-hander Paul Maholm in the series opener. The veteran left-hander has not earned a win since Aug. 3 against Cincinnati, posting an 0-6 record with a 7.88 ERA and a .352 batting average against in his last nine outings.
His best start during that stretch, however, came against St. Louis on Aug. 24. Maholm held the Cardinals to two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings, but did not factor in the decision in a game that the Pirates eventually won. He owns a 3-4 record with a 3.41 ERA in 12 career starts against the Cardinals, though Pujols has knocked hit around with a .600 average (18-for-30).
St. Louis will counter with right-hander Jake Westbrook, who is coming off his best start since joining the team at the trade deadline. The veteran sinkerballer went eight scoreless innings and allowed six hits while recording 17 groundouts to pick up a win against the San Diego Padres.
Westbrook was on the mound for one of those setbacks at Pittsburgh in August, surrendering four runs and six hits in six innings to suffer the loss.