Pittsburgh Pirates face Cardinals in crucial 3-game set

Jeff Locke gives Pirates fans a great deal of trepidation with each of his starts. Going into the All-Star break, Locke was slowly putting it together with six consecutive starts with two earned runs or less. Since the break, he’s reverted to more Locke-like performances, with a 5.48 cumulative ERA in his four post-break starts. In his last three starts he has failed to pitch more than 5.2 innings. Despite a nearly 2-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (17-9), Locke still finds himself victimized by the long ball, giving up three home runs in his last three starts, for a 1.17 HR/9. It’s not fluky either, as his last four opponents have had a .277 BABIP (batting average on balls in play).

The good news is this – the Cardinals struggle against left-handed pitching as you can see below.

Split	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
vs RHP	3053	2745	325	716	156	15	66	311	231	579	.261	.324	.401	.724
vs LHP	1175	1043	115	244	43	6	25	113	105	275	.234	.311	.359	.670

A couple of the big hitters in the Cards’ lineup highlight their struggle against southpaws. Matt Carpenter sees his average drop to .240 (.279 against RHP) and his OPS drops considerably, down to .730 against .895. Jhonny Peralta is a curious case as his average drops all the way to .237 from .293 against righties, but his slugging actually improves to .500. His OBP against left-handers drops as well, so his OPS ends up about even. Pirate killer Kolten Wong enjoys an average of .227 and a dismal on base percentage of .287. His power leaves against left-handers as well, with only one of his 11 home runs coming off of them.

Here are Locke’s complete numbers against current Cards:

Name	PA	AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Jason Heyward	18	16	5	1	0	2	2	2	.313	.389	.375	.764
Matt Carpenter	15	11	2	0	0	3	2	2	.182	.333	.182	.515
Yadier Molina	14	12	3	1	0	2	2	1	.250	.357	.333	.690
Jhonny Peralta	13	12	0	0	0	0	1	5	.000	.077	.000	.077
Mark Reynolds	13	12	1	1	0	0	1	3	.083	.154	.167	.321
Peter Bourjos	9	7	3	0	0	1	1	1	.429	.556	.429	.984
Randal Grichuk	8	8	3	1	0	0	0	1	.375	.375	.500	.875
Pete Kozma	7	6	2	0	0	1	1	1	.333	.429	.333	.762
Tony Cruz	5	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Brandon Moss	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Kolten Wong	3	3	1	0	1	2	0	0	.333	.333	1.333	1.667
Total	112	98	20	4	1	12	10	16	.204	.288	.276	.564

Over in the other dugout, Carlos Martinez comes in enjoying a fine season with a sparking 2.57 ERA. Martinez got roughed up for five runs in a recent start versus the Colorado Rockies but before that had not allowed more than three runs since all the way back on May 9. If there’s an Achilles’ heel to Martinez’s approach, it’s his walk rate. With a 3.5 BB/9 rating, the Pirates would do well to try to see as many pitches as possible. Perhaps more epic at-bats from the likes of Gregory Polanco are in order.

Here are Martinez’s numbers against current Pirates:

Name	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Andrew McCutchen	16	13	4	2	0	1	2	3	4	.308	.438	.692	1.130
Pedro Alvarez	13	11	1	0	0	1	2	2	4	.091	.231	.364	.594
Neil Walker	13	13	4	0	1	2	4	0	3	.308	.308	.923	1.231
Gregory Polanco	10	7	5	2	0	0	1	3	1	.714	.800	1.000	1.800
Aramis Ramirez	10	10	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.200	.200	.200	.400
Starling Marte	9	7	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	.000	.222	.000	.222
Francisco Cervelli	6	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.200	.333	.200	.533
Jung Ho Kang	6	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.400	.500	.400	.900
Sean Rodriguez	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.333	.500	.333	.833
Travis Ishikawa	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1.000	1.000	2.000	3.000
Mike Morse	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000	2.000
Chris Stewart	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000
Total	91	77	22	5	1	4	9	11	21	.286	.389	.532	.921

Next, we’ll move on to the marquee matchup of the series.

Next: Game two - Cole vs Wacha

Schedule