First pitch: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: St. Louis +110, Pittsburgh -120, Total: 8.0

The Cardinals will be going for their fourth straight victory when they take on the struggling Pirates on Wednesday.

St. Louis is currently trying to earn a postseason spot and the team has now won three straight games heading into Wednesday. This series is just what the doctor ordered for the Cardinals, as the Pirates have lost eight straight games and just can’t buy a victory right now. The starters in this game are set to be RHP Mike Leake (9-9, 4.56 ERA, 108 K) for the Cardinals and RHP Jameson Taillon (3-4, 3.25 ERA, 67 K) for the Pirates. Leake has been a major disappointment since signing with St. Louis in the offseason, but he can still turn his season around by helping this team make the playoffs. He happens to be doing exactly that right now, as the team has won in five of his past eight appearances. Taillon, meanwhile, has been the Pirates’ most reliable starter since being called up and could really give his team a boost by earning a victory on Wednesday. One thing that is worth mentioning is that Pittsburgh is 1-8 against the money line in home games after allowing seven runs or more in two straight games this season.

As previously mentioned, Mike Leake had a rough start to the year with St. Louis. He has, however, turned things around recently. Over his past three starts, Leake has pitched a total of 19.0 innings and has given up just six earned runs in those outings. Leake was especially great in his most recent start, allowing no earned runs in seven innings of work against the Phillies on Aug. 21. He struck out eight batters in that one and walked just one. If he can continue to post quality starts then the Cardinals would be more than happy with him. Offensively, C Yadier Molina (.296, 7 HR, 46 RBI) is a guy to keep an eye on in this one. Molina is on a tear lately and has seen his average rise from .289 to .296 over the past 10 games. In that span, Molina has three homers and six RBI. He was also 4-for-5 with two doubles, a homer and four RBI on Tuesday and will be hoping that he can carry that momentum into Wednesday’s game.

Jameson Taillon has been a revelation for the Pirates this year and Pittsburgh needs him to continue to pitch well, as the team is falling way behind in the NL Wild Card race and can’t afford to lose many more games moving forward. The Pirates are two games under .500 and need to rattle off at least six or seven straight wins in order to make things interesting down the stretch. Taillon is coming off of an excellent start against the Brewers on Sep. 2, allowing just one earned run in six innings of work. Taillon has now allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven of his past 10 starts. The Pirates are surely hoping that he’ll be able to turn in another performance like that against a Cardinals team that is also trying to grab one of the NL Wild Card spots. Offensively, the Pirates are going to need somebody to step it up in this one. One guy that just might be able to do that is OF Gregory Polanco (.264, 21 HR, 81 RBI). Polanco has been one of the Pirates’ best hitters all season, but he has been in a bit of a slump lately. Polanco has seen his average drop from .273 to .264 over the past 10 games and needs to turn it around. If he can get hot then maybe the Pirates can start winning some games and make things interesting the rest of the way.