St. Louis @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 13, 2011 ) St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 4

THE STORY: The St. Louis Cardinals still have a shot at reaching the postseason. A shot at reaching October - or at least earning a winning season - seemed like an attainable goal for the Pittsburgh Pirates at one point. Now, the Pirates are destined to extend their dubious record. Edwin Jackson tries for a third straight winning decision Wednesday as the Cardinals continue their late season push against the host Pirates, who will try to stave off the inevitable for at least one more day. Nick Punto hit a go-ahead double off All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan in the ninth inning to lead the Cardinals to a 6-4 victory Tuesday. The win kept St. Louis within striking distance of Atlanta in the National League wild card race. Meanwhile, the Pirates' next defeat will extend their North American professional sports record to 19 straight losing seasons.

TV: 12:35 p.m. ET, FS Midwest, Root Sports (Pittsburgh)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Charlie Morton (9-9, 3.81 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Edwin Jackson (4-2, 3.39).

Manager Clint Hurdle chose to skip Morton’s last start after the righthander posted a 7.71 ERA during his first three-start losing streak of the season. The sinkerballer hasn’t pitched since allowing four runs - three earned - and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings against Chicago on Sept. 4. The rest may help. Morton is 3-0 with a 0.70 ERA this season when pitching on at least six days’ rest. Jackson, who was acquired from Toronto on July 27, is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last four outings. The righthander is 3-0 with a 3.24 ERA in four career starts against the Pirates. He faced Morton on Aug. 25 and allowed one earned run and six hits in six innings of an 8-4 victory.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS (80-68): St. Louis, which has won six of seven and 13 of 18, remains 4 1/2 games back of Atlanta with 14 to play. NL home run leader Albert Pujols is hitting .392 (20-for-51) over his last 14 games. He had a shaky day in the field, though, Tuesday. A two-time Gold Glove award winner, Pujols committed three errors. Righthander Chris Carpenter allowed four runs and 10 hits in seven innings in his first start since signing a two-year, $21 million extension. He also had a two-run single.

ABOUT THE PIRATES (67-81): The Pirates, who were in a three-way tie for first July 24, are 15-34 since. A 10-game losing streak in early August signaled the beginning of the end for the Pirates. Hurdle was ejected in the fifth inning Tuesday for arguing after it was ruled that rookie Pedro Ciriaco left third base early on a sacrifice fly. Pittsburgh starters, who were exceptional in the first half (3.62 ERA), have lasted more than six innings only once in the last 22 games. Andrew McCutchen snapped out of a 1-for-15 slump with a two-run homer Tuesday.

FINAL PITCH: The Pirates’ latest losing season should be taken in stride since the team of youngsters is clearly making progress. Pittsburgh has 10 more wins than last season, when it clinched another losing campaign Aug. 21.