St. Louis; Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Chad Kuhl (1-4, 5.66 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 27 strikeouts) Cardinals: Carlos Martinez (3-8, 6.35 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 47 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cardinals -152, Pirates +132; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis enters the game as losers of their last three games.
The Cardinals are 13-14 against teams from the NL Central. St. Louis has a team on-base percentage of .293, last in the National League. Dylan Carlson leads the lineup with a mark of .348.
The Pirates are 7-22 against the rest of their division. Pittsburgh has hit 52 home runs this season, last in the MLB. Bryan Reynolds leads the club with 12, averaging one every 21 at-bats.
The Cardinals won the last meeting 8-5. Jack Flaherty earned his eighth victory and Tommy Edman went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs for St. Louis. Trevor Cahill registered his fifth loss for Pittsburgh.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler O’Neill leads the Cardinals with 15 home runs and has 34 RBIs.
Reynolds leads the Pirates with 32 extra base hits and is batting .302.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 4-6, .194 batting average, 3.15 ERA, outscored by 13 runs
Pirates: 3-7, .247 batting average, 4.87 ERA, outscored by 11 runs
INJURIES: Cardinals: Kodi Whitley: (undisclosed), Daniel Ponce de Leon: (shoulder), Miles Mikolas: (forearm), Dakota Hudson: (right elbow), Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Jack Flaherty: (side), Harrison Bader: (rib), Max Moroff: (shoulder).
Pirates: Jose Soriano: (elbow), Luis Oviedo: (quad), Sam Howard: (knee), Blake Cederlind: (elbow), Trevor Cahill: (calf), Steven Brault: (lat strain).
