There is nothing better in the entire sport of baseball than the feeling of being involved in the hunt for the playoffs--and tonight, when the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates battle it out for the last scheduled time in this 2012 season, their is quite a bit on the line for both teams.
The two National League Central opponents have both won seven games apiece and entering tonight's rubber match of their last three game series of the season, Saint Louis currently leads Pittsburgh by just two games in the race for the National League's final Wild Card spot.
Considering tonight will determine who wins the head-to-head battle for the season, if indeed their happens to be a one-game playoff between them, the winner of tonight's game would own home-field advantage--which isn't the best of news considering the team will be without four-time All-Star catcher Yadier Molina following his collision at the plate last night with Josh Harrison.
I'm certainly not going to call this an absolute must-win for the Cardinals tonight--as actually I feel it is for the Pirates--but it could go a long way in the end depending on how they respond from last night's 9-0 pounding that the defending champions. Joe Kelly will be going head-to-head on the mound against the Pirates' Wandy Rodriguez. Here is a quick look at the lineup for tonight's all-important game:
- Jon Jay (CenterField)
- Carlos Beltran (Right Field)
- Matt Holliday (Left Field)
- Allen Craig (First Base)
- David Freese (Third Base)
- Skip Schumaker (Second Base)
- Tony Cruz (Catcher)
- Rafael Furcal (Shortstop)
- Joe Kelly (Starting Pitcher)
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