First-year manager Mike Matheny has done nothing short of a magnificent job with the way that he has handled all of the recent problems and injuries following his takeover of the 2011 defending World Champs--and with a good showing in the series this weekend, he could make yet another giant leap in suprising the likes of 'Cardinal Nation'.
Entering tomorrow's series opener, Saint Louis (40-36) currently trails the Pirates (40-35) by just a half game--while the Cardinals trail Cincinnati for first by just two games--and just a game and a half for Pittsburgh.
Both teams enter with an overall record of 6-4 in there previous ten ball games. The Cardinals are currently overall 17-16 at home inside Busch Stadium--while the Pirates are 17-22 away from Pittsburgh, although they have won two games in a row.
The Cardinals lead the head-to-head season series between the two ball clubs four games to two games--and won both two of three games at both Busch, as well as in Pittsburgh. The two teams met up for three in Pittsburgh in mid April; while they met for three games at Busch the first days of May.
The Pirates are led by the likes Andrew McCutchen, who leads the team in home runs (14), runs batted in (48), runs scored (42), and stolen bases (14). AJ Burnett, who won't get a start over the weekend, leads the team in wins from starters with eight.
With both teams fighting for first against the Reds, this weekend's series is pretty pivitol. The winner of this series could make a leap of momentum towards the division title; while the loser could lose a lot of ground on making noise this season. Grab your popcorn and soda, ladies and gentleman. This weekend is about to get serious.
Also, on another big note; Cardinals' ace and star starting pitcher Chris Carpenter has officially been throwing off the mound--and while his return still has no timetable--the news just continues to get better and better.
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