Series preview: Red-hot Redbirds welcome Pirates for three-game series

Pittsburgh Pirates (41-67) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (62-58), August 20-22, 2021

Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

TV: AT&T Sports Pittsburgh

Radio: KDKA-AM

Cardinals SB Nation Site: Viva El Birdos

The Pirates continue their marathon with the Cardinals in another series this weekend in St. Louis.

Here’s a look at what we can expect this weekend:

Projected Starters

Friday, 8:15 p.m. EST

Mitch Keller (3-10, 6.86 ERA) vs. Miles Mikolas (0-0, 2.25 ERA)

Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EST

Dillon Peters (0-1, 1.93 ERA) vs. J.A. Happ (7-6, 6.03 ERA)

Sunday, 2:15 p.m. EST

Steven Brault (0-1, 1.84 ERA) vs. Adam Wainwright (11-7, 3.26 ERA)

Projected Lineups

Pirates

1. Hoy Park (SS)
2. Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B)
3. Bryan Reynolds (CF)
4. Colin Moran (1B)
5. Yoshi Tsutsugo (LF)
6. Jacob Stallings (C)
7. Gregory Polanco (RF)
8. Rodolfo Castro (2B)
9. Starting Pitcher

Cardinals

1. Tommy Edman (2B)
2. Paul Goldschmidt (1B)
3. Nolan Arenado (3B)
4. Tyler O’Neill (LF)
5. Yadier Molina (C)
6. Lars Nootbaar (RF)
7. Paul DeJong (SS)
8. Harrison Bader (CF)
9. Starting Pitcher

By winning seven of its last 10 games, the Cardinals are pulling themselves back into the NL Wild Card race.

Just 3.5 games separate them from the San Diego Padres, who hold the second Wild Card spot.

Last week, the Cardinals flew into PNC Park and took all three games from the Pirates, so now will hopefully be time for the Pirates to do the same in St. Louis.

That probably isn’t going to happen but any time you sit at the bottom of your division and you have a chance to disrupt your rival’s playoff hopes should be enough to fire your team up.

Hopefully the Pirates can go into the weekend and play with passion and pride and the desire to knock the Cardinals off their pedestal.