Pirates vs. Cardinals: Previewing Final Game of Series

Game 3: Thursday, May 3, 1:45 p.m. ET

Pitching Matchup: Erik Bedard (1-4, 2.38 ERA) vs. Jake Westbrook (3-1, 1.30 ERA) 

Last Night's Review 

The Cardinals won game two of the series in stunning fashion last night. They got to A.J. Burnett early and often scoring 12 runs in just the first three innings. 

Carlos Beltran was in the middle of a 3-32 slump and broke it by going 4-5 with two home runs and seven RBI. For all you non-Albert fans out there, Beltran had more RBI in three innings last night than Pujols has had all season.

On top of all that, Lance Lynn had another strong outing, going six-plus innings giving up only two runs and striking out six. The Cardinals look for their first sweep of the year today. 

Tonight's Preview

Jake Westbrook has had a good start to his season. He has a team low 1.30 ERA and is 3-1. Westbrook needs to stay this good, so the Cardinals can pull out the first sweep of the year after falling short so many times already. 

He will have to face Erik Bedard to get it done. Bedard has had a good season to this point even though his record may not show. Bedard pitches well but gets no run support from his teams, so he can't win the games even though he is doing so much. 

Today's matchup will feature another scoring outburst by the Cards. Not as much as last night but a good enough amount to win the game easily and take the series sweep. 

Tonight's X-Factor: Matt Holliday

Holliday seems to be coming out of his slump, as he is on a tear right now. Holliday has a .455 batting average against Bedard, and I imagine that number will climb against him today. 

My Prediction

Cardinals will win 6-2 and Westbrook will get his fourth win of the season.