St. Louis @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 15, 2011 ) St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 6
THE STORY: Having dropped six games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central, the Cardinals need a big effort from veteran Chris Carpenter on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. History says he has a good chance to come through. He's 12-2 lifetime against Pittsburgh and 7-1 overall with a 2.60 ERA since June 20. But he'll be opposing Jeff Karstens, who's won six of his last eight decisions. St. Louis is in the midst of five straight series against losing teams and needs to dominate them to keep the red-hot Brewers in sight.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ROOT, FS-M
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Jeff Karstens (9-6, 3.04 ERA) vs. Cards RH Chris Carpenter (8-8, 3.68 ERA).
Karstens fanned a career-high nine in his last outing as he held San Francisco to two runs over six innings. He leads Pittsburgh starters in ERA but has given up an alarming 20 homers. In four career starts against St. Louis, Karstens is 1-1 with a 1.40 ERA. Carpenter has won seven of his last eight decisions, including a 5-2 win over Milwaukee last time out in which he allowed two runs over eight innings. He has dominated the Pirates in his career, going 12-2 with a 2.24 ERA in 17 starts. However, he’s been significantly worse on the road this season (4.48 ERA) than at home (2.82).
ABOUT THE PIRATES (57-63): Pittsburgh was struggling offensively until getting homers from unexpected sources Monday night. Ryan Doumit hit his sixth homer while going 4-for-4 and Xavier Hall hit his second homer in the Pirates' 6-2 win. The middle of the lineup has been especially quiet, with center fielder Andrew McCutchen in a 2-for-17 skid. The Pirates' win Monday was their first at PNC Park in eight tries.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS (65-57): Recently acquired Octavio Dotel has quickly become a key reliever. He's made nine appearances in 18 games, going 0-1 with a save, a 3.38 ERA and a sparkling WHIP of 1.00. Batters are hitting .179 against him. Another new acquisition, Rafael Furcal, has been a major defensive upgrade at shortstop despite a throwing error Monday. But he's hitting just .207 with an on-base percentage of .275. Outfielder Jon Jay is in a 7-for-44 funk. Skip Schumaker played center field for the first time Monday, with Ryan Theriot taking his place at second base and getting three hits.
FINAL PITCH: Pittsburgh leads the season series 4-3.