The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to become the first team in nearly a century to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in a five game series when they host them Thursday night at 7:05 pm ET.
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Via ESPN:
The Cardinals (62-44) led the Pirates by 2 1/2 games on July 26, but six days later it's Pittsburgh (65-42) that has a 2 1/2-game cushion and the best record in baseball.
The Pirates held St. Louis to three total runs in winning three times Monday and Tuesday, but the Cardinals' offense briefly came to life Wednesday. After scoring four times on 10 hits in the first four innings, though, St. Louis was held to three hits the rest of the way as Pittsburgh rallied to win 5-4.
It enters August 23 games above .500 for the first time since 1972.
"We can win just about every way possible," manager Clint Hurdle said.
A Pirates win Thursday would complete the first sweep of the Cardinals in a series of at least five games since the New York Giants took six in September 1916. Pittsburgh's last five-game sweep came against the San Francisco Giants in September 1996.
The Pirates have the Cardinals on the verge of their first eight-game skid since September 2007, and they've won six straight in this series for the first time since 1992 -- the franchise's last winning season. Pittsburgh has outscored St. Louis 36-10 in that stretch, pounding out 23 extra-base hits to the Cardinals' seven.
St. Louis hasn't homered in those six games and has hit just one in 13 contests since the All-Star break.
The Cardinals have only hit four homers in the 11 games Charlie Morton (3-2, 3.59 ERA) has started against them, but they've been productive in many other ways. The right-hander is 2-7 with a 6.17 ERA against St. Louis, though he has a 3.18 ERA in five starts in the series at PNC Park.
Allen Craig is 7 for 12 against Morton, yet the majors' best hitter with runners in scoring position (.465) isn't exactly thriving at the plate right now. His first-inning single Wednesday broke an 0-for-23 skid, but he went hitless in his final four at-bats.
