The set-up: The St. Louis Cardinals went 12-12 in April and followed that up by going 13-13 in May. That's consistent but not exactly what one expects from a franchise which has made the playoffs in 12 of the previous 17 seasons. Then again, the Cards' April and May records look pretty good these days, as after dropping the first two of this three-game home series with the Pirates, St. Louis gets set to host Pittsburgh Sunday night on ESPN having gone only 8-15 in June. The Cards lost 7-3 last night, the 10th time this month they have surrendered at least six runs. The Cardinals are 3-8 their last 11, clinching the team's first sub-.500 month since June 2016! Meanwhile, the Pirates have won nine of 14 and guaranteed themselves a series win at a venue where they had dropped seven straight prior to Friday's triumph. Pittsburgh is now 35-40, one game better than the 33-40 Cards and only four games back of the NL Central-leading Brewers.

The pitching matchup: Chad Kuhl (2-6 & 5.46 ERA) gets the nod for Pittsburgh and Mike Leake (5-6 & 3.03 ERA) gets the call for St. Louis. Kuhl ended a 12-start win-less streak this past Tuesday at Milwaukee, as he allowed just two runs on seven hits while striking out six in Pittsburgh's 7-3 win. Kuhl pitched just five inning sin the win (he was 0-6 and the Pirates 2-10 in his previous 12 starts) and hasn't worked past the fifth inning in any of his last 11 outings. Kuhl is 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA in three career starts against the Cards (team is 0-3). Leake is off a solid outing last Tuesday, allowing just one run on three hits over six innings of an 8-1 victory. He did not figure in Tuesday's decision but the outing did halt a four-start losing streak in which he owned a 6.20 ERA. Leake has seen the Pirates quite a bit in his career (29 starts), going 10-5 with a 3.29 ERA, although his teams are just 13-16.

The pick: Kuhl has not pitched well in 2017 but did have one of his best starts of the season on April 18 at St. Louis, giving up two runs on three hits over six innings. As for Leake, he's looked good in his last outing, after that awful four-game losing stretch. However, prior to that mini-slump, Leake owned a 1.91 ERA over his first nine starts of 2017. Pittsburgh/St. Louis games have been tight in 2017, as Saturday's 7-3 Pittsburgh win marked the first time in five meetings this season the outcome was decided by more than one run. Expect another close and low-scoring one tonight, making the Under a 10* play.