Following an 8-2 road trip, the Pirates return home for a six-game homestand to conclude the regular season. An important three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals is on tap first.
Recalling the road trip, despite a setback Sunday, Tony Watson was pleased with the team’s overall body of work.
“It’s never easy going to the West Coast, especially this time of year and we faced some good arms, some Cy Young candidates obviously,” Watson said. “We’ve had and will continue to have tough games down the stretch, and we showed up really well in the road.”
Assessing the series, the Cardinals lead the Pirates by three games in the National League Central heading into the final week of regular season play. A sweep would result in a tie for first place and if this holds through the teams’ respective weekend series, then a one-game playoff would be played Monday at PNC Park.
“It’s something we haven’t been in a position to do before, so it’s another step forward,” manager Clint Hurdle said of winning the division in the final week of play. “Especially when you’re in a situation where you’ve got three outlier teams doing something that’s never been done in a really long time.”
In tonight’s game, J.A. Happ will face off against Lance Lynn.
Historically, Happ has not had much success against the Cardinals posting a 2-8 record with a 6.00 ERA in 11 career starts. His last start against the Cardinals was a road win. Happ allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings of work in his Sept. 4 start against them after he was skipped against the Cardinals in the prior start. Happ won his last start, his 10th of the season and sixth with the Pirates allowing three runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings of road work against the Colorado Rockies.
Lynn is 5-5 against the Pirates with a 5.00 ERA in 18 career games [16 starts] against the Pirates. This is his 30th start of the season and fourth consecutive year with at least 30 starts in a season. In his last start, Lynn pitched six scoreless innings allowing three hits to the Cincinnati Reds.
Seventh inning stretch: Pirates players know the importance of this series, however as is often the case in big games, the one game at a time cliche occurs.
The Pirates know this series is important and many watched with great intent as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Cardinals Sunday afternoon.
“Me personally it doesn’t feel like the regular season is winding down,” said Watson. “It feels just like it did in April, but the reality is that there are only six games left in the regular season. We’re not going to treat them any differently than we did in May or June. Every win is important, so we’ve just to get out there and take care of business.”
Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that crowds of at least 30,000 would be at each game in the Cardinals. The Pirates need to average 23,272 fans in the last six games of the season to surpass last season’s attendance record.
“It’s definitely important to be filling this place,” Watson said. “When this place is full and rowdy, you talk to other guys in the league and it’s one of the toughest places to play, and that says a lot. We need everyone here and making noise. It needs to be electric all week.”
Bottom of the ninth: A recent article said that many players and teams enjoy watching the Pirates. They acknowledge the team may not have the most firepower at the plate or mound and may not be the most defensively sound, however the team has set itself up for a potential playoff run.
“Collectively, I think it’s a big family and everybody is pulling for one another,” said Watson. “There is one common goal which is to win. That’s what makes a great team and we’ve got that here. It’s great that people recognize it. We put a lot of hard work into this.”
The Pirates are 50-25 at home going into tonight’s contest, the third straight season which they have won at least 50 home games. This is the first time the Pirates have had a streak of this length… In the past 28 home meetings with the Cardinals, the Pirates, are 20-8 with 26 home runs, a streak which dates back to Aug. 28, 2012…The Pirates are 10-1-1 in their past 12 home series… Francisco Cervelli has a .367 batting average in the seventh inning or later… Andrew McCutchen is one RBI shy of matching high career-best total of 96 set in 2012… Gregory Polanco is batting .377 in 16 games against the Cardinals this season.
Photo credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
