Today at 1:00 p.m. ET, the Pittsburgh Pirates (0-1) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1-0) continue their best-of-five National League Division Series with Game 2 action live from Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The game can be live streamed here. Pittsburgh fans can hear all the action on KDKA-FM 93.7 while St. Louis fans can do the same by turning their dials to KMOX 1120.
The Pirates turn to rookie pitcher Gerrit Cole (10-7, 3.22 ERA regular season), who makes his postseason debut and tries to draw Pittsburgh even in the series, while Lance Lynn (15-10, 3.97) enters his third postseason and will take the mound for St. Louis and try to put a 2-0 stranglehold on the series before heading to Pittsburgh for Game 3.
After St. Louis' lopsided 9-1 victory over Pittsburgh Thursday night, the two NL Central rivals have each won 10 games in their 20 meetings during the 2013 campaign. It's a quick turnaround to play a day game right after Thursday night's opener, but the Cardinals are eager to try and take full momentum in the series.
"That's the way you want it," Cards infielder Matt Carpenter said to MLB.com. "You want to keep the momentum going, keep the energy up and come out tomorrow ready to go."
Carpenter tied for the Major League lead in hits with 199 during the regular season, while he also lead the league in doubles (55) and runs scored (126).
The Pirates know it's important to bounce-back after dropping the opener of the series, but manager Clint Hurdle recognizes his club has shown that kind of resiliency before.
"We've lost a few games like this this year, so what we've been good at is just moving on," Hurdle said after Thursday's loss per MLB.com. "We knew coming in we had to find a way to win a game here. Didn't win today. We're really good at dealing with the reality of the situation."
Cole, 23, was the Pirates No.1 overall pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, and knows the importance of this afternoon's start.
"It's going to be unbelievable," Cole said Thursday, according to MLB.com. "You're in enemy territory. The place is going to be loud. It's going to be rocking. I have no real experience to pull from, so just going to try to keep it as simple as I can and just control what I can control."
The rookie will have to navigate his way through a potent Cardinals lineup that includes perennial postseason slugger Carlos Beltran, who blasted a three-run homer in Game 1. Beltran is a .357 postseason hitter with 15 homers and 28 RBIs through eight series.
The Pirates boast a slugger of their own in third baseman Pedro Alvarez, who tied for the NL lead in homers in the regular season with 36, and connected for a solo shot off Adam Wainwright to give the Pirates their lone run in Game 1.
Lynn, meanwhile, feels comfortable pitching at home after going 9-3 with a 2.82 ERA at home during the 2013 regular season.
"Some pitchers feel more comfortable at certain places," Lynn told MLB.com. "I have the luxury of throwing in front of the home crowd here, and I'm excited about it."
The Cards look to take full control of the series while the Pirates hope to get into it when these two teams square off in Game 2 this afternoon.
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