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Pirates-Cardinals Preview

Jul 31, 2010 - 5:14 PM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Pittsburgh (36-66) at St. Louis (57-46), 7:15 p.m. EDT

After a long rain delay in their series opener, the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals traded zeroes into the early hours of Saturday morning.

There's little reason to expect a pitchers' duel Saturday night.

The Pirates' Daniel McCutchen and the Cardinals' Jeff Suppan have had trouble keeping the ball in the park all season, making some offensive fireworks a strong possibility when Pittsburgh and St. Louis continue their series at Busch Stadium.

After the Pirates and Cardinals (57-46) waited out a two-hour, 20-minute rain delay in Friday night's opener, neither team could come up with a clutch hit through nine scoreless innings. Brendan Ryan finally came through in the 10th, though, lifting St. Louis to a 1-0 win - and first place, one-half game ahead of Cincinnati - with a broken-bat infield hit.

"I didn't absolutely smash it, but I got enough of it," Ryan said. "I was just glad it was over."

Ryan Ludwick's leadoff double - the game's only extra-base hit - got the 10th inning started for the Cardinals. It turned out to be Ludwick's last at-bat with St. Louis as he was traded to San Diego on Saturday as part of a three-way deal also involving Cleveland. St. Louis acquired right-hander Jake Westbrook from the Indians.

It wouldn't be surprising to see a few balls leave Busch Stadium on Saturday. McCutchen (1-4, 8.58 ERA) has given up 10 homers in 28 1-3 innings, while Suppan (0-6, 6.18) has surrendered 10 in 45 1-3 innings over his nine starts.

Each pitcher allowed three in his last outing, which in McCutchen's case was a while ago. The right-hander gave up four runs and four hits - including the three homers - over five innings July 7 at Houston in a 6-3 loss.

"Hopefully he'll continue to progress," manager John Russell told the Pirates' official website after that outing. "He's throwing the ball pretty decent up here. He's just got to find a way to limit those mistakes."

McCutchen has never faced St. Louis.

Suppan, who spent part of the 2003 season in Pittsburgh, has faced the Pirates (36-66) quite often in his 16-year career, going 14-3 with a 4.35 ERA in 25 games. He's 4-0 against them since 2008, despite a 5.73 ERA.

Pittsburgh first baseman Garrett Jones is 3 for 4 with two homers against Suppan.

The right-hander had an encouraging start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 18, allowing one run over six innings, but reverted to his shaky form July 23 at Wrigley Field. Suppan gave up 10 hits - three homers - and five runs over six innings of a 5-0 loss.

"I can't remember a game where he didn't give us a chance to win," manager Tony La Russa told the Cardinals' official website. "... He is what we think he is. He's a very competitive guy, and he's got to figure out a way to get outs."

Facing the NL's worst offense could help. Pittsburgh has dropped 26 of its last 30 road games, averaging 2.6 runs and batting .225 in those contests.

While the Pirates know they'll need some offensive production to have a chance, they're more than happy to see Albert Pujols' drought continue. The two-time reigning NL MVP, hitting .220 since the All-Star break, doesn't have an RBI in four games against Pittsburgh this season after batting .463 with 16 RBIs in the 2009 season series.