Not much separates the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals in the National League wild-card race.
The Pirates beat the visiting Cardinals 2-1 on Monday to pull within one game of St. Louis, then the Cardinals won 2-1 on Tuesday to keep Pittsburgh from pulling even. The teams will play the decisive game of their series Wednesday afternoon.
Pittsburgh won six of seven games going into the All-Star break and three of four coming out of it before St. Louis slowed that roll on Tuesday.
“We played some tough baseball, really good one,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “The atmosphere today here in Pittsburgh, it felt like a playoff game. The crowd was into it, obviously (Paul) Skenes on the mound, it’s going to be a tough matchup.
“I thought our guys did a nice job. We competed well, showed some real toughness there.”
Skenes, a rookie sensation who started for the National League All-Star team last week, pitched 8 1/3 innings of two-run ball and struck out eight on Monday but absorbed his first major league loss.
The Pirates will look to get left-hander Martin Perez (1-5, 5.61 ERA) back on track Wednesday. Perez allowed 11 runs on 16 hits, five walks and a hit batter in his past two starts, covering a combined 8 1/3 innings.
However, Perez handled the Cardinals on July 4, holding them to one run on seven hits in 7 1/3 innings in a game visiting St. Louis eventually won 3-2 in 10 innings.
Perez is 1-0 with a 2.36 ERA in four career starts covering 26 2/3 innings against St. Louis.
Slumping Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes should return to the starting lineup after coming off the bench on Tuesday.
“He has a back injury, so it’s something that’s going to continue to linger,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton told 93.7 The Fan. “He’s healthy, but there’s daily management of it. It’s not something that is hindering him, but it is something that is there, and it’s probably going to be there the rest of the year.”
Hayes last homered on June 18, and he has just two doubles in 26 games since then.
“We need Ke’ to get hot,” Shelton said. “That is important. We saw him get hot last year, and we know that it’s in there. I think the biggest thing is just making sure (he is) driving the baseball. We saw it in the Chicago series right before the break; he drove some balls into the gap. We have to get back to him consistently doing that and being on time.”
Alec Burleson has been on time for the Cardinals, batting .347 in July with 22 RBIs and a .627 slugging percentage. He delivered the decisive RBI single in the ninth inning on Tuesday.
“His bat-to-ball skills are incredible,” Marmol said. “He’s going to give you a really good shot. … He’s not going to give in, he’s not going to give away an at-bat. In those situations, we trust him.”
The Cardinals’ rotation was disrupted by a rainout Friday at Atlanta coming out of the break. Kyle Gibson and Sonny Gray started in the Saturday doubleheader, so either would be on short rest on Wednesday.
As a result, St. Louis is expected to deploy a bullpen day. Left-hander Matthew Liberatore (2-2, 4.15 ERA), a converted starter, will either start or serve as a bulk-innings reliever.
Liberatore has faced the Pirates twice this season in relief, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings. In five career outings against Pittsburgh, including three starts, he is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA.
–Field Level Media
