St. Louis Cardinals v Pittsburgh Pirates, Game 4: Starters, Start Time, TV Info

H.Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports

After an 8th inning Pedro Alvarez single put the Pittsburgh Pirates ahead with a 4-3 lead, the Buccos completed the win by a final margin of 5-3 over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates are now one game away from advancing to the NLDS.

Yes, one…win…away. The Pirates have not won a postseason series since 1979 when they also won the World Series. Remember “We Are Family”?

Here’s today’s game info:

Date: Sunday, October 7th
Start Time: 3:00 PM EST
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Venue: PNC Park
TV Info.: TBS
Live Stream:MLB.tv or the MLB at Bat 12 App.

To stave off elimination, the Cards will look to rookie Michael Wacha (4-1, 2.78 ERA, 1.098). Seems like a tall order for Wacha, but if his short foray into the regular season is any indication, the Cards could be extending their season. An important note is how Wacha is against lefties (.197/.254/.239). He could neutralize Alvarez and Justin Morneau. Wacha faced the Pirates twice this season, once in relief (2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 4 SO) and once as a starter (7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO).

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle will give the ball to Charlie Morton (7-4, 3.26 ERA, 1.284 WHIP) to wrap up the series. Morton missed the majority of the season’s first half as he recovered from Tommy John. Morton has been solid in pitching at home. While his record is 2-2, his posted an ERA of 2.85 and WHIP 1.174 at PNC Park. There is a negative here, though. In his 9 PNC Park starts, the Pirates are 4-5 including a defeat at the hands of the Cardinals on August 1. In that touting, St. Louis hit Morton over 6 innings to the tune of 5 runs on 10 hits.

Today’s starting lineups..