It's only July, but St. Louis Cardinals baseball has playoff atmosphere written all over it as they get set to travel to Pittsburgh to face the second place Pirates. There will be five games in four days as the division lead is on the line. The first place Cardinals will look to get back on the win column, while the Pirates will look to overtake the N.L. Central.
Channel- Where to Watch: Fox Sports Missouri, ROOT Sports
Game time will be 7:05 p.m. ET. As expected, pitching will highlight the storyline. It will be a rejuvenated Francisco Liriano on the mound for the home team. He's clearly been the Pirates' ace, coming at a bargain. Liriano is making $1 million, but is pitching like the Liriano of old. He's 10-4 in 2013 with 2.23 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. He has 92 strikeouts in 88.2 innings pitched. He's won five of his last six starts and fresh off 7.2 scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals.
Westbrook might only have 14 starts under his belt, but he's made his presence in the Cardinals' rotation. He is 7-4 with a 2.95 ERA, but has had a bit of trouble keeping runners off base, posting a 1.40 WHIP. The Cardinals will truly need Westbrook to get them back to their winning ways. St. Louis lost three straight games in Atlanta and were lucky that the Miami Marlins were able to hold off the Pirates over the weekend.
Predictions: You have to like Liriano's chances versus the Cardinals in this game. He hasn't faced them this season and that could be an advantage for him. He held the potent Cincinnati Reds to just three runs in his first two starts against them this season before getting pounded for five earned runs in his last start against them. Westbrook on the other hand, completely dominated the Pirates when he saw them on April 27, pitching six scoreless innings of six-hit ball.
The Cardinals have struggled against left-handed pitching. They are 18th with a .245 batting average and 20th with 25 home runs against southpaws this season. Look for the Pirates to have the advantage and win this first game 5-3.
