Watch Thread: St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates FREE LIVE (2022/05/20) MLB Game Score, video streams, Preview, Time, Date, Venue and play-in matchup

GAME NIGHT: St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates

When: 6:35 PM ET, Friday, May 20, 2022
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Summary

The St. Louis Cardinals arrived in Pittsburgh on Friday to begin a series against pirates seeking to tour their road trip.

Three of the four have been eliminated against the Mets in St. Louis New York, including a 7-6, 10-innings defeat on Thursday. The trip ended with three games against the pirates.

The Cardinals hope they can get a spark for power-hit prospect Nolan Gorman, who will be called up from Memphis in Triple and is expected to start second base on Friday.

“He’s here to play,” said St. Louis manager Oliver Marmal. “He’s going to show what he’s capable of. … We have a need, so he’s coming to meet it.”

Gorman has 15 homers and a .308 average in 34 games for Memphis.

Outfielder Tyler O’Neill is on the injured list due to shoulder problems, Marmal said.

Pirates, meanwhile, are in the market for runs. They have scored a total of four in their last four games, and three of them have come to their highest game, a 3-2 street win against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh had the good fortune to go 2-2 in those four games, winning 1-0 in the extended first where the Cincinnati Reds pitched a combined no-hitter but the Pirates still managed to score a run.

Pittsburgh’s third baseman K’Brian Hayes said, “We insisted, get your pitch. If you don’t get it, do your walking.” “We’re a super young team. We’re all still learning, trying to do better.”

It’s not just this week that pirate bats have calmed down. They finished in the National League in runs (122), ranked 12th in Homers (28) and batting average (.224).

Overall, Pittsburgh have dropped six of seven of their last 14 games in 7-7.

In the series opener, St. Louis will face right-handed Adam Wainwright (4-3, 3.15 ERA) and Pittsburgh right-handed Zach Thompson (2-3, 5.47).

Wayne Wright can’t get a job, but he almost owns Pirates. In 48 games with 42 starts, against them, he is 22-7 with a 3.65 ERA.

And against 40-year-old pirates can get better with age.

Wainwright hit a 32-inning scoreless streak against Pittsburgh on Friday, June 26, 2021. At PNC Park, the site of this weekend’s series, he played 20 consecutive scoreless innings until September 7, 2019.

Last season, Wainwright compiled a 0.30 ERA on four starts against the Pirates. He then beat Pittsburgh by six innings in the opening day win this year.

Thompson, who has never faced St. Louis, has been hard to hit lately.

He has played 12 consecutive scoreless innings in three games – two starts and one relief innings – lowering his ERA from 10.05.

In these three outings, he has 10 outs, four walks and allowed four hits.

That included six one-hit innings on Saturday in the Pirates’ 3-1 win over Cincinnati. Heat, little flare with two outs in the sixth by Brandon Drury, when Thompson started to dry out on a warm, dirty day.

He was another hitter before his work was finished, but it was Pittsburgh’s favorite type of work.

“Anytime our boys are so skilled, especially with the first few orders, it’s important,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton of Thompson, who threw 17 pitches in the first two innings on Saturday, including 13 strikes.

Stats and Records