Cardinals slip past Pirates, 4-3

Defeat locks down another losing season

Spoiler isn’t the right word, general manager Ben Cherington said before Friday’s game. It’s more the fact that the Pirates, miles away from the playoffs, want to make sure these games matter. To them.

They want to ensure they’re preparing the right way and doing their best to take advantage of every opportunity. If they can irritate or upset a few teams along the way, even better.

The Cardinals, a division rival clinging tightly to wild-card hopes, would certainly qualify as one of those teams. The Pirates threatened and made things interesting Friday, especially against St. Louis’ wobbly bullpen, but Pittsburgh ultimately came up a hair short in a 4-3 loss at PNC Park.

The loss, which guaranteed another losing season, highlighted sort of where the Pirates (47-82) are right now — focused on running down a couple top teams, with players eager to prove themselves, but also lacking enough firepower to do that constantly.

“Everybody is playing for something,” said Jacob Stallings, who had three hits. “Especially on our team, we don’t have many

Saturday

Game: Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 7: 05 p.m., PNC Park.

TV, Radio: AT&T SportsNet: KDKA-FM (93.7).

Probable starters: LHP Steven Brault (0-2, 1.93 ERA) for Pirates; RHP Adam Wainwright (12-7, 3.10) for Cardinals.

Key matchup: St. Louis’ Tommy Edman led all National League players in doubles (33) entering Friday, while his 129 hits were second in MLB behind Bryan Reynolds’ 136. Furthermore, Edman was hitting .339 over his past 13 games.

Hidden stat: RHP Adam Wainwright has a 19-inning scoreless streak against the Pirates and has won his past seven starts against them. The good news is that Wainwright has a 5.03 career ERA at PNC Park in 22 games, including 18 starts.