Young stars take spotlight as Cardinals meet Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals will be on the outside looking in when the playoffs begin next week, but both teams have reason for optimism heading into the offseason.

When the teams begin a three-game series in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the focus will be on several emerging stars.

Pittsburgh (79-77) has won four straight and boasts a promising young core led by center fielder Oneil Cruz, who hit his 20th home run of the season in a 4-3 home win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Cruz, 27, became the third player in Pirates history -- along with Andrew McCutchen and Barry Bonds -- to record 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in three consecutive seasons. He is batting .318 with six home runs, 23 RBIs and seven stolen bases since Aug. 18.

"He's had an unbelievable year," Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly said. "He worked extremely hard specifically against left-hand pitching, but overall, this offseason put himself in a great spot and has followed up with an outstanding year."

Kelly has also been pleased by the performance of closer Mason Montgomery, 26, who has made 24 consecutive scoreless appearances, the longest single-season streak by a Pirates pitcher since at least 1901.

"Another guy that's shown great growth and composure, especially in the ninth inning," Kelly said. "He's handled the emotions well and stayed composed."

The Pirates conclude their home schedule with three games against St. Louis (76-80) before ending the campaign on the road against the Detroit Tigers.

The Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday in their final home game of the season. Ivan Herrera hit a pair of solo home runs, and Leo Bernal added a two-run homer.

"I'm glad we were able to finish at home the way this fan base has seen us play all year, rather than the last couple of games," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.

Herrera, 26, is batting .247 with 18 homers and 68 RBIs in 155 games.

"He's a good hitter," Marmol said. "He doesn't have to try to hit homers to hit homers. He's capable of being a 20-, 25-homer guy and using the whole field and hitting for more average -- that's more than possible for him."

Tuesday's pitching matchup features a pair of right-handers as the Cardinals' Andre Pallante (12-7, 3.70 ERA) opposes the Pirates' Jared Jones (4-6, 4.17).

Pallante, 28, allowed eight runs (six earned) over five innings in a 10-3 home loss to the San Francisco Giants last Tuesday.

Bryan Reynolds is 4-for-26 (.154) with two homers against Pallante, who is 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 19 career games (six starts) versus Pittsburgh. He tossed six innings of one-run ball in a 5-4 road win over the Pirates on April 29.

Jones, 25, received a no-decision after giving up three runs over five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. He matched his season high with nine strikeouts. He had not allowed a run in his previous two outings, spanning 13 innings.

Alec Burleson is hitless in five at-bats against Jones, who is 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in two career starts versus St. Louis. He allowed three runs over 4 2/3 innings in a 4-1 road loss to the Cardinals on Aug. 28.