St. Louis Cardinals

Pirates in position for sweep of Cardinals (Jun 25, 2017)

Published Jun. 25, 2017 12:23 a.m. ET

ST. LOUIS -- For the Pittsburgh Pirates, Sunday night's game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium will be their 76th out of 162.

But it also represents a chance for them to finish a winning road trip with a sweep of their National League Central rivals that could possibly move them a step closer to first place in a division where no one has ran off and hid like the Chicago Cubs did last year.

"We were able to win the series today," Pittsburgh second baseman Josh Harrison said after Saturday night's 7-3 decision over St. Louis. "A sweep would be nice. But the game yesterday, the game today, they don't matter.

"Tomorrow's game is a separate entity. We've got to come in tomorrow, try to get the win and the sweep."

Harrison was a big part of the Pirates' ability to position themselves for a sweep. He went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, doubling and scoring in the first and then belting a solo homer in the fifth.

Harrison added a painful RBI an inning later when he was plunked by a John Brebbia fastball, giving him 26 for the year to go along with 26 extra-base hits, a .294 average and a nice OPS of .837.

"He creates a wake, a positive wake out there," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said of Harrison. "He has been really good from the start of the year until now. He's been fun to watch."

Hurdle hopes that starting pitcher Chad Kuhl (2-6, 5.46 ERA) is just as enjoyable to eyeball in the series finale. Kuhl's recent uptick in velocity hasn't necessarily translated into improved results, although he did bag a 7-3 win Tuesday night in Milwaukee.

In that outing, Kuhl gave up seven hits and two runs in five innings, walking two and fanning six. He has made three starts in his young career against the Cardinals (33-40), going 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA.

One of those losses occurred April 18 when Kuhl pitched well enough to win but absorbed a 2-1 setback to the man who will oppose him in this game, St. Louis right-hander Mike Leake.

That was part of a scintillating beginning to the season that landed Leake atop the league's ERA chart into early June, but Leake (5-6, 3.03) has lost four straight decisions. He hasn't won a game since May 24 at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But Leake is at least coming off a quality start, giving up only one run in six innings on Tuesday night in a no-decision at Philadelphia. And he does have a track record of success against the Pirates (35-40), going 10-5 with a 3.29 ERA in 29 career starts.

The Cardinals need every good omen they can get these days. They've lost three straight and are 12-25 in their last 37 games, falling from first place into fourth in the division.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny, looking for any positive he can find, said after Saturday night's loss that it was one of his team's better defensive games of the year.

"Overall, except for a baserunning mistake, the guys played well," he said.