The St. Louis Cardinals are firmly in contention for the postseason and the Pittsburgh Pirates are not.
But heading into a three-game series, which begins Monday night in Pittsburgh, both teams appear to be playing their best baseball of the season.
The Cardinals are coming off a three-game sweep of the Guardians in Cleveland that included Sonny Gray’s complete-game one-hitter and a combined three-hit shutout led by starter Matthew Liberatore’s six innings.
St. Louis has won 10 of its past 13 games and will look to right-hander Erick Fedde (3-7, 4.11 ERA) to keep the momentum going when he opposes Pirates lefty Andrew Heaney (3-7, 4.48).
The Pirates have won five of their past seven games and enter Monday on a three-game winning streak sparked by one of their best offensive weekends in decades. Pittsburgh scored nine or more runs in a three-game series for the first time since Aug. 30-Sept. 1, 1999 against the Colorado Rockies and outscored the struggling New York Mets 30-4. Sunday’s 12-1 victory marked a season high for runs for the Pirates.
The Cardinals have won four of the six meetings with the Pirates so far this season and swept a three-game series from May 5-7 the last time the teams played each other in St. Louis.
For Pittsburgh, Ke’Bryan Hayes enters the series on an eight-game hitting streak. He has gone 13-for-29 (.448) with three doubles, eight RBIs and eight runs scored during that stretch.
The Pirates may need another big offensive outburst on Monday as Heaney, who has not faced the Cardinals this season, has not fared well in his two most recent outings. Heaney has allowed seven runs in each of his past two starts and hasn’t pitched past the fifth inning in either. Heaney is also 0-2 with an 11.57 ERA in 11 2/3 innings over three career starts vs. St. Louis.
“I’ve always been sort of a streakier pitcher,” Heaney said. “I can go on some pretty good runs, and then I can throw some pretty bad ones in a row, and then I can go on another pretty good run. It all kind of evens out at the end.”
In Fedde’s first start against Pittsburgh this season on April 9, he threw six no-hit, scoreless innings before being pulled to start the seventh in a game St. Louis eventually lost 2-1 in 13 innings. He walked four and struck out two that day and is 1-0 with a 2.05 ERA in 22 innings over four career starts against the Pirates.
Like Heaney, Fedde also allowed seven runs in his most recent start, allowing eight hits, including three home runs, in 3 2/3 innings of an 8-0 home loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.
“It was one of those weird days and it felt like even my outs were hard hit,” Fedde said. “I felt like I had put together a good month and this one kind of ruins all of that.”
Nolan Gorman has been one of the big sparks in the Cardinals’ lineup. Gorman has taken full advantage of the opportunity as St. Louis’ designated hitter since Ivan Herrera was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Gorman hit .264 with five home runs and 13 RBIs in June — by far his best month of the season.
Pirates reliever Dennis Santana began serving a three-game suspension on Sunday stemming from an incident that occurred with a fan in Detroit on June 19, and he won’t be available for Monday or Tuesday’s games.
–Field Level Media
