After winning the first game of a crucial three-game divisional series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, 4-3, the Cardinals are now three games ahead of the Pirates. They are also 2.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second wild card spot thanks to back-to-back wins and back-to-back losses by both teams in pursuit.
St. Louis can look to continue to pad that lead on Tuesday night with Jake Westbrook taking the mound for the Cardinals. Westbrook has a 4-1 record in August and won his start on Thursday, despite allowing five runs in five innings to the Astros.
Taking the mound for the Pirates will be James McDonald who had a 9-3 record with a 2.37 ERA entering the All-Star Break, but has since had a record of 2-3 while his ERA has inflated to 3.73. In his last start, McDonald allowed four runs to the Padres in five innings, although he pitched well against the Cardinals in the start before that.
The first pitch in Tuesday's game at PNC Park is scheduled to be thrown at 6:05 CT and will be televised on MLB Network, Fox Sports Midwest and Root Sports-Pittsburgh.
Be sure to head over to Viva El Birdos for more Cardinals coverage, and check out Bucs Dugout for more on the Pirates. Also visit Baseball Nation for even more news and analysis from around the league.