Jameson Taillon has become the Pirates’ best pitcher. I trust him to end Pittsburgh’s eight-game losing streak here.
The Cardinals have never faced Taillon, who has a 2.70 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in eight home starts. The Pirates are 8-3 in Taillon’s last 11 starts. Taillon is a great control pitcher having walked only 12 in 83 innings.
This is a must-win spot for the Pirates, trailing the Cardinals by 5 1/2 games for a wild-card spot. The Cardinals may be a bit fat and happy here having won the first two games of this series, including pulling one out last night by scoring four runs in the ninth inning. This also marks the end of St. Louis’ nine-game road trip. So the Cardinals’ focus may be a bit off as they return home to host the Brewers on Thursday.
Along with a play-on Taillon and this being a good spot for the Pirates the third part of this handicap is a fade on Cardinals starter Mike Leake. He defines mediocrity in my book with a 9-9 record and 4.56 ERA. Leake hasn’t pitched in more than two weeks having been sidelined by shingles.
The Pirates know Leake well having faced him 27 times with current members batting .278 against him. I’m not a fan of Leake to start with and I certainly don’t like him when he’s rusty and doesn’t figure to go deep into the game.
