Ponce expected to start for the Pirates against Cardinals

Pittsburgh Pirates (7-19, fifth in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (11-9, second in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Thursday, 6:45 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Colin Moran and the Pirates will take on the Cardinals Thursday.

The Cardinals are 7-5 against NL Central teams. St. Louis' team on-base percentage of .343 is third in the National League. Paul Goldschmidt leads the team with an OBP of .482.

The Pirates have gone 6-8 against division opponents. Pittsburgh has a collective on-base percentage of .276, last in the National League. Colin Moran leads the club with a mark of .326.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler O'Neill leads the Cardinals with three home runs and is slugging .375.

Erik Gonzalez ranks second on the Pirates with nine extra base hits and is slugging .444.

INJURIES: Cardinals: Miles Mikolas: (forearm), John Brebbia: (elbow), Harrison Bader: (migraine), Matt Wieters: (toe).

Pirates: Jameson Taillon: (elbow), Joe Musgrove: (triceps), Mitch Keller: (left side), Keone Kela: (forearm), Clay Holmes: (right forearm), Michael Feliz: (right forearm), Kyle Crick: (right shoulder/lat), Nick Burdi: (right elbow), Chris Archer: (neck), Kevin Kramer: (hip), Kevin Newman: (abdominal), Colin Moran: (concussion), Phillip Evans: (broken jaw/concussion), Luke Maile: (finger).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by , and data from ,.