After taking two of three from the Diamondbacks over the weekend, the Cardinals will welcome the Pirates to Busch Stadium for three games this week. The Pirates were swept at Wrigley Field over the weekend.
At the start of play on Monday, the National League Central features the Cubs in first place by 2 1⁄2 games over the Brewers and three games over the Cardinals. The Reds and Pirates are in fourth and fifth place, respectively, with Pittsburgh 6 1⁄2 games out. This division is definitely the tightest in baseball, and that makes inner-division matchups like these as exciting as ever.