Series: Pirates vs. Cardinals; PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
TV, radio: Root Sports, WPGB-FM (104.7).
Facts/Reaction: I am not going to say a whole lot about the Reds series. The Pirates scored only 4 runs in 3 games, yet were able to win 2 of 3 games. That is a testament to the remarkable job that the pitching staff (both starting and relief) has done throughout this year. Today's game against the Reds was one of those days when the Pirates look like the team that won only 57 games all of last year. But the past is the past and this weekend's series against the Red Birds is huge. The series marks the 3rd time this season where the Pirates will play the "biggest" series in PNC Park history. The previous two series (Phillies and Red Sox) equated to great crowds, great baseball and most importantly, series victories for the Pirates.
Pitching Probables:
Sunday, July 24 - Charlie Morton (8-5, 3.62 ERA) vs. Kyle Loshe (8-7, 3.45 ERA)
Stats and Matchup: As I write this preview the Cardinals are tied with the Mets heading into the top of the 9th inning. The Cardinals started the day 1.5 games behind the Pirates in the NL Central and even with a win would enter their weekend series with the Pirates at least .5 game behind the Buccos in the standings. Both the Pirates and the Cardinals will send their best pitchers to the mound (except for Jeff Karstens who took a tough luck loss today against the Reds) in this series which could lead to a bunch of low scoring games. Over the past few years the Cardinals have owned the Pirates and leading that charge is their game 1 starter Chris Carpenter. Carpenter is 11-2 with a 2.09 ERA and 108 K's in his career against the Pirates. Even though Carpenter has historically dominated the Bucs, he took the loss in a 3-1 Pirates victory back in early April. Each game of the series features great pitching matchups but the matchup that I am most interested in is Game 2. Of all the Pirates pitchers in the series, Correia has had the most success going 2-2 with a 2.79 ERA and 23 K's in his career. Opposing Correia is Jaime Garcia who has made only 2 starts against the Pirates and owns an 0-1 record with a 0.96 ERA in those starts. This is a game that I really think Correia exerts himself and gets back to his early season form, working both sides of the plate and mixing his pitches with great effectiveness. As far as the hitters in the series go, I truly believe the stars of the series will be each team's best player. Albert Pujols has killed the Pirates in his career, hitting .372 while belting 45 long balls and driving in 136 runs in 159 career games. For the Pirates, my player to watch has to be Andrew McCutchen. I know he has struggled as of late but he is starting to drive the ball more consistently and something tells me he is going to have a huge series in front of three huge home crowds. McCutchen is a career .322 hitter against the Cardinals with 11 doubles and 17 runs scored in 24 career games. He only has 1 career home run against the Cardinals so this weekend will be as good as any for him to add to that total. Also, look for the return of Ronny Cedeno to the starting lineup as well as the possible return of Steve Pearce who may see some action at the hot corner. However, it does not look like we will see "El Toro" Pedro Alvarez just yet, but I am hopeful that he will return sometime around the trade deadline.
Prediction: Pirates win 2 of 3. I think they lose game 1 to Carpenter, there is just no way that they beat him twice in one year after losing something like 15 straight decisions before that. With that being said, I wouldn't be surprised if they win Games 1 and 2 again and they go into their shell for Game 3. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if they only won Game 2. I am sticking to my guns. Pirates win 2 of 3. Let's Go Bucs.
Programming Note: I will be in Deep Creek, MD for a "bachelor party weekend" so there will be very few if any updates over the weekend. Hopefully I will get to see a few innings while enjoy a beverage at one of Maryland's fine drinking establishments.
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