INDEPENDENT MLB ANALYTICSINDEPENDENT ANALYTICS
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FinalFinal lineupsNL Central

St. Louis Cardinals 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 1

Final Score and Game Recap

Final score, pitching lines and standings context.

6:40 PM ET · PNC ParkGame-day snapshot Sep 25, 2:01 AM ETFinal lineups lockedCurrent 2026 season stats — updated Oct 29, 5:00 AM ET
T-Score33
St. Louis Cardinals
77–85 · 4th NL Central · T-Score 33
5
5–1
FINAL · 9 innings
Pittsburgh Pirates
82–80 · 3rd NL Central · T-Score 43
1
T-Score43
FINAL · 9 innings
Pitching recap
PitcherTeamRoleIPHERBBKP
Matthew LiberatoreSTL
StarterWin
5.2610681
Lake BacharPIT
Starter
1.2101230
Brandon EisertPIT
ReliefLoss
0.2231118
Scoring by inning
123456789RHE
STLSt. Louis Cardinals0032000005100
PITPittsburgh Pirates010000000160
Top hitters
Brandon Lowe2-for-4 · 1 HR · 1 RBI
JJ Wetherholt3-for-4 · 1 RBI · 1 R · 1 BB
Alec Burleson1-for-5 · 1 RBI · 1 R
Masyn Winn1-for-3 · 1 RBI · 1 R · 1 BB
Leo Bernal1-for-4 · 1 RBI

Matchup at a glance

PitcherStat calculation
CategoryComparisonWhy
Starting pitcherEvenThe starters grade similarly overall, with no clear advantage across P-Score, ERA and WHIP.
Offense vs handPiratesPittsburgh owns a .701 OPS vs LHP, 17th in MLB; St. ranks 29th vs RHP.
BullpenPiratesPittsburgh owns a 3.93 bullpen ERA this season, compared with St.'s 4.68.
Recent formPiratesPittsburgh has been the better recent team, at 6–4 over the last 10.
Plate disciplinePiratesPittsburgh has drawn 554 walks this season, 56 more than St..

Pregame contextStarting pitchers

STL
Matthew Liberatore LHP
Matthew Liberatore
St. Louis Cardinals
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
5.36
175th
WHIP
1.49
181st
K/9
8.92
74th
BB/9
3.31
117th
P-Score46i
FIP
–
HR/9
1.63
188th
OPS/R
–
IP
149.1
Last 5 starts
ERA
7.03
QUALITY
START %
20%
(1 of 5)
DAYS
REST
7
PIT
Lake Bachar RHP
Lake Bachar
Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
3.56
49th
WHIP
1.14
40th
K/9
9.40
44th
BB/9
3.78
157th
P-Score47i
FIP
–
HR/9
1.40
145th
OPS/R
–
IP
83.1
Last 5 starts
QUALITY
START %
0%
(0 of 5)
DAYS
REST
3
How the starters differ
·Bachar allows fewer baserunners, with a 1.14 WHIP compared with 1.49.
·Bachar enters with a 3.56 ERA compared with Liberatore's 5.36.
·Liberatore averages 2.9 more innings per start.
·Liberatore has been more vulnerable to home runs, allowing 0.23 more per nine innings.

How the lineups match the starters' pitch mix

Pitch data coverage: partial. Usage and velocity only.

Liberatore arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Four-seam30%94.3
Slider27%86.1
Curveball18%79.6
Changeup13%88.5
Sinker8%94.2
Cutter4%90.5
Sweeper0%85.2
Splitter0%87.0

Team OPS vs opposing starter's hand

Cardinals vs RHP (Lake Bachar)
29th
in MLB
0.688OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000
Pirates vs LHP (Matthew Liberatore)
17th
in MLB
0.701OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000

Lineup strength vs today's starter

Weighted by batting-order spot. Season rates are regressed toward league average before they enter the model.

Updated Sep 23, 4:40 PM ET
STLSTL
.721
−28 ptsOPS edge
PITPIT
.749

Slight edge: PIT

Full lineup comparison

Lineups

Final lineupsOrder from the stored snapshot; treat as unofficial until the card is filed.Full lineup page
St. Louis CardinalsOfficial lineupvs RHP Lake Bachar
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs RHPVs Bachar (BvP)
1JJ WetherholtL2B55.70417.7321-for-1Very small sample
2Iván HerreraRDH60.73519.6971-for-4Very small sample
3Alec BurlesonL1B71.81626.9391-for-1Very small sample
4Jordan WalkerRRF73.79329.7691-for-1Very small sample
5Leo BernalSC60.8075.899No MLB historyNo history
6Nolan GormanL3B40.5809.598No MLB historyNo history
7José FermínRLF41.6646.6050-for-1Very small sample
8Nathan ChurchLCF41.65410.6710-for-2Very small sample
9Masyn WinnRSS42.6255.5942-for-3Very small sample
1JJ Wetherholt 2B · L.242 / .704 · 17 HRvs hand .732 · 1-for-1 · Very small sample55H-Score2Iván Herrera DH · R.241 / .735 · 19 HRvs hand .697 · 1-for-4 · Very small sample60H-Score3Alec Burleson 1B · L.279 / .816 · 26 HRvs hand .939 · 1-for-1 · Very small sample71H-Score4Jordan Walker RF · R.269 / .793 · 29 HRvs hand .769 · 1-for-1 · Very small sample73H-Score5Leo Bernal C · S.284 / .807 · 5 HRvs hand .899 · No MLB history · No history60H-Score6Nolan Gorman 3B · L.184 / .580 · 9 HRvs hand .598 · No MLB history · No history40H-Score7José Fermín LF · R.248 / .664 · 6 HRvs hand .605 · 0-for-1 · Very small sample41H-Score8Nathan Church CF · L.247 / .654 · 10 HRvs hand .671 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample41H-Score9Masyn Winn SS · R.232 / .625 · 5 HRvs hand .594 · 2-for-3 · Very small sample42H-Score
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs LHPVs Liberatore (BvP)
1Konnor GriffinRSS45.7286.8220-for-3Very small sample
2Rafael Flores Jr.RC61.85811.8090-for-1Very small sample
3Bryan ReynoldsSLF69.78917.8243-for-5Very small sample
4Brandon LoweL2B68.82435.6120-for-2Very small sample
5Nick GonzalesR3B48.7556.6531-for-3Very small sample
6Ronny SimonSRF—.6481.364No MLB historyNo history
7Ryan O'HearnLRF59.77018.630No MLB historyNo history
8Jared TrioloRSS34.6093.6880-for-3Very small sample
9Jake MangumSCF38.6945.6751-for-3Very small sample
1Konnor Griffin SS · R.272 / .728 · 6 HRvs hand .822 · 0-for-3 · Very small sample45H-Score2Rafael Flores Jr. C · R.264 / .858 · 11 HRvs hand .809 · 0-for-1 · Very small sample61H-Score3Bryan Reynolds LF · S.261 / .789 · 17 HRvs hand .824 · 3-for-5 · Very small sample69H-Score4Brandon Lowe 2B · L.260 / .824 · 35 HRvs hand .612 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample68H-Score5Nick Gonzales 3B · R.303 / .755 · 6 HRvs hand .653 · 1-for-3 · Very small sample48H-Score6Ronny Simon RF · S.254 / .648 · 1 HRvs hand .364 · No MLB history · No history—H-Score7Ryan O'Hearn RF · L.265 / .770 · 18 HRvs hand .630 · No MLB history · No history59H-Score8Jared Triolo SS · R.238 / .609 · 3 HRvs hand .688 · 0-for-3 · Very small sample34H-Score9Jake Mangum CF · S.276 / .694 · 5 HRvs hand .675 · 1-for-3 · Very small sample38H-Score

Team comparison

OffenseSTLSTL·PITPIT
AVG.239 22nd.253 5th
OPS.691 28th.734 6th
Home runs167 24th186 13th
Runs720 16th767 6th
OBP.313 22nd.330 4th
SLG.378 29th.404 9th
PitchingSTLSTL·PITPIT
1stMLB rank30th
ERA4.26vs4.14
STLPIT
WHIP1.36vs1.30
STLPIT
K/98.0vs9.3
STLPIT
HR Allowed158vs155
STLPIT
BullpenSTLSTL·PITPIT
1stMLB rank30th
Bullpen ERA4.68vs3.93
no league rank
Bullpen WHIP1.35vs1.31
no league rank
Saves46vs41
STLPIT
ResultsSTLSTL·PITPIT
+34119th
Run differential
+4446th
77–85 Record82–80
4–6 Last 106–4
Last 10 games
St. Louis Cardinals (4–6)
L
W
L
L
L
L
W
W
L
W
Pittsburgh Pirates (6–4)
W
W
W
W
W
L
L
W
L
L
2026 head-to-head
Season Series
6—7
13 Games Played

Frequently asked

Who is starting for the Cardinals?+
Matthew Liberatore (5.36 ERA, 5–14) is listed as the starter.
Who is starting for the Pirates?+
Lake Bachar (3.56 ERA, 1–4) is listed as the starter.
What time does the game start?+
6:40 PM ET at PNC Park.
Where is the game being played?+
PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Are the lineups confirmed?+
Not as official league cards. The orders shown are the current projected or last-posted lineups.
How have the Cardinals and Pirates performed head-to-head?+
Season series: Pirates 7–6 this season.
How do the starters compare on P-Score?+
Matthew Liberatore is at 46; Lake Bachar is at 47. P-Score is PitcherStat's 0–100 season index for qualified starters.