• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Pirates try to bring momentum to St. Louis

Apr 4, 2011 - 2:44 PM (Sports Network) - Three games into the season and the Pittsburgh Pirates already have a quarter as many road series victories as they did all of last year. They figure to face a stiff challenge as they go for a second in a row.

Fresh off a series victory against one National League Central rival, the Pirates will try to get their three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals off to a good start this evening at Busch Stadium.

Pittsburgh struggled to just a 17-64 road record a season, winning just four series away from the Steel City. However, two of those came in Chicago and the Pirates showed that was no fluke by taking two of three from the Cubs to begin the 2011 season. They rallied to take Sunday's finale, claiming a 5-4 win thanks to Pedro Alvarez's two-run infield single in the ninth inning.

With Garrett Jones and Neil Walker on third and second base, respectively, after a Lyle Overbay bunt, Alvarez hit grounder past the mound and to short. Chicago's Starlin Castro had to make a tough throw to first and it was slightly off the mark, allowing Walker to race home from second.

"Good piece of hitting by Pedro to just put the ball in play," Walker said.

Alvarez had three hits and drove in three runs for the Pirates, who were without center fielder Andrew McCutchen due to a stiff neck.

Pittsburgh dropped nine of 15 to the Cardinals last year, but only one of its victories came in St. Louis. The Pirates are just 3-9 at Busch Stadium since the start of 2009.

St. Louis, though, didn't get its home schedule off to a great start, losing its first two over the weekend to San Diego before coming through with a 2-0 triumph on Sunday thanks to Jaime Garcia's second career shutout. Garcia struck out a career-high nine batters while scattering four hits.

"He was mid-season good," Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said about Garcia. "He was so sharp, had a lot of strikeouts and pitched with a lot of composure."

Yadier Molina and Ryan Theriot each had a run-scoring single for St. Louis, who remain without Matt Holliday due to an appendectomy undergone Friday after playing in Thursday's season-opener.

St. Louis' Albert Pujols struggled versus the Padres, going just 2-for-13 with a homer. However, he is a .374 lifetime hitter against the Pirates and is 4- for-10 with four RBI lifetime against Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton, who will be trying to carry a solid spring into this start.

The right-handed Morton made 17 starts with the Pirates last year and went just 2-12 with a 7.57 earned run average. However, Morton went 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in six games during the spring, all but one of those starts.

The 27-year-old is just 1-3 with a 7.77 ERA in five career starts against the Cardinals, who counter with 32-year-old Kyle Lohse.

A 15-game winner in 2008, Lohse went just 4-8 with a 6.55 ERA in 18 starts a season ago, but like Morton he had a great spring, going 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in five starts while going 24 innings without issuing a walk.

The righty has solid career numbers against the Pirates, going 5-1 with a 3.41 ERA in 10 appearances against them, including nine starts.