The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to chase down the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL Central-lead, or at the very least defend the Wild Card spot they are currently owners of. They've won five of their last six games scoring eight runs or more three times in that span and are off a 9-8 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Another high-scoring tilt is in the cards Wednesday night when the two teams clash for the rubbermatch of this three-game series at PNC Park.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Pirates hand the ball to J.A. Happ (4-7, 4.64 ERA) who's still looking for his first win with the Pirates since coming over from Seattle. He's 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA over his last six starts overall and allowed four runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 5-0 loss in his lone home-start for the Pirates so far. The D'backs will counter with Robbie Ray (3-8, 3.29 ERA) who's off three consecutive losses surrendering a total of 10 runs on 18 hits and eight walks over 15 1/3 innings of work. This will be his first start against the Pirates this season but he was lit up for four runs in five innings here at PNC Park in his debut season last year.

2. Situational - The over is 6-2-1 in the Pirates last nine games with the total set at 7.0-8.5 and 5-1 in their last six at home. 11 of the D'backs last 16 away from home have sailed over the total.

3. X-Factor - The Pirates have reached the seats in 12 consecutive games, as streak likely to continue as Ray has served up four homers over his last four starts.

Selection: This is a play on ARI@PIT to go over the total (10*)