Pirates Reveal First Starting Lineup vs. Cardinals
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates will face off against the St. Louis Cardinals on the road for a three game series at Busch Stadium.
Joey Bart returns to catcher and will hit fourth in the lineup, coming in for Henry Davis who was the catcher in the 4-0 shutout defeat vs. the San Diego Padres on May 4 at PNC Park.
Andrew McCutchen also takes over at designated hitter after not starting in the previous game, with Bart in his place. He will hit third once again.
Jared Triolo stays at shortstop for the fifth straight game, but will hit ninth in the lineup, moving down one spot from eighth. Usual Pirates starting shortstop, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, is on the 10-day Injured List with a right hamstring strain.
The Pirates will keep the rest of the lineup that they had the day before, with Oneil Cruz in center field and leading off, plus Bryan Reynolds in right field and batting second.
The rest of the lineup moves down one spot, as Enmanuel Valdez will play first base and hit fifth, Ke'Bryan Hayes stays at third base and hits sixth, Adam Frazier continues at second base and will hit seventh and Tommy Pham plays left field and hits eighth.
Right-handed pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski makes his seventh start of the season for the Pirates, after moving from the bullpen to the starting rotation.
He holds a 1-3 record in his first six starts, a 6.58 ERA with 19 earned runs over 26.0 innings pitched, 22 strikeouts to 10 walks and an opposing batting average of .330.
Mlodzinski got his sole win of the season vs. the Cardinals at PNC Park on April 7 in an 8-4 win. He allowed just one earned run, five hits and two walks over five innings, while posting six strikeouts in his second start of 2025.
The Pirates won two out of three games vs. the Cardinals the first time around and will look to get back to winning ways, as they've lost their past four games and sit 12-23 overall.
First pitch is set for 7:45 p.m. (EST).
Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup vs. the St. Louis Cardinals
Game 1 from St. Louis.
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Note: All Statcast data in this article is from games played before May 5
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.