Stephen Piscotty Injured In Horrific Outfield Collision

Thanks to an 8-game winning streak this past week, the Pirates have the Cardinals walking the plank.

Piscotty, a rookie, has played in 61 games for the Cardinals this season. They may also have to go this series without the services of catcher Yadier Molina, arguably the game’s best backstop, who has missed time with a tear in his thumb. On Tuesday it’s Michael Wacha against Charlie Morton.

Entering Monday, Piscotty was hitting.313 with seven home runs and 39 RBI in 249 plate appearances.

It starts tonight at 7:05 p.m. when Pirates’ left-hander J.A. Happ faces off against Cardinals’ right-hander Lance Lynn. Kershaw hasn’t had as much luck against the Giants, going 1-2 with a 2.76 ERA in four starts. Eventually, he was placed in a neck brace and on a stretcher before being carted off. As he was exiting the field of play, he managed to wave to the PNC crowd, which warmly cheered him.

The injury occurred in the bottom of the seventh inning with the game scoreless. Polanco led off the fifth with a double only to run into an out at third on a chopper to shortstop by Josh Harrison. Reynolds has three homers on the season against the Pirates, the most he has against any team. The last thing either of these clubs wants to do is battle the Cubs in the one-game wild-card playoffs. Months of hard work and preparation with the hopes of the National League Central crown will be decided in this last week of the regular season, starting with this series here. Neither opponent has been very competitive in 2015, but I expect the Braves to pose more of a challenge than the Reds, considering the Pirates will be comfortable in their home ballpark.

The Cardinals survived on a night they issued 10 walks. As for the Pittsburgh defense and pitching staff, teams routinely struggle to score runs against the Pirates, who allow only 3.7 runs per game.