Few things can jumpstart the St. Louis Cardinals quite like a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Not even Brandon Phillips is as effective.

The Cardinals crushed the Pirates, 10-2, at PNC Park on Monday night, and the veritable gush of offense must, as usual, be taken in context. In their previous four games against the Pirates, the Cardinals have outscored the sinking Bucs 31 to 4. And, yes, that includes a 1-0 victory at the start of Pittsburgh's last visit to St. Louis. Simply, the Pirates are the perfect masking agent for an inconsistent offense.

Look no further than Pittsburgh's run differential: minus-250.

In years past we've discussed the value of run differential as a way to judge contenders, identify favorites and point out teams that have little traction in the standings. Remember earlier this season when Pittsburgh defied its run differential and flirted with .500? Yeah, see how that lasted ... But Pittsburgh's run differential is otherwordly awful, even for a club wading through its 18th consecutive losing season. Check out the worst run differential in the National League this season (1):

Pirates ... minus-250

Arizona ... minus-118

Houston ... minus-114

Cubs ... minus-90

Washington ... minus-82

The only team in baseball close to the Pirates is the Baltimore Orioles at minus-184. But no team in the NL is within 130 runs of the Pirates. That's obscenely bad. The Pirates are losing by an average of at least two runs more a game than any other team in the NL. The Cardinals' plus-27 in the previous four games is just a sliver of the Pittsburgh overall struggles. But, hey, the run differential pegs the Pirates for a 37-88 record so far this season. At 41-84, the Pirates are still defying the odds, playing above their performance.

This detailed look at run differential isn't meant (only) to pop the balloons floating around to celebrate the Cardinals' offense getting on track. Rather, it's to introduce another stark reality revealed by the standings. Want to know how important this road trip is for the Cardinals, allow me to illustrated with one number: .650.

That is the winning percentage the Cardinals must play at from now to the end of the season to finish a game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds.

The Cardinals go into tonight's Adam Wainwright start with 40 games remaining in the schedule. They trail Phillips and the Reds by 2 1/2 games, but Cincinnati has played three more games. If the Reds play their remaining 37 games at the same winning percentage they have now (.576), they'll finish 93-69. To get to 94 wins and claim the division title, the Cardinals must go 26-14 from here.

Or, play .650 baseball.

It might take Phillips getting the Pirates to call the Cardinals names to make that happen. Or, just this road trip. The Cardinals are playing three teams that are a combined 68 games out of first place and 76 games below .500. The 10-day trip is a buffet of opportunity for the Cardinals to chew up Cincy's lead and maybe, maybe even take one of their own by the time they return home to ... face the Cincinnati Reds over Labor Day weekend.

Here's what the standings tell us about what the Cardinals must do to finish ahead of the Reds, if the Reds ...

... play .576 from here:

Reds will go 93-69; Cardinals must go 26-14 (.650)

... play just above .500 from here:

Reds will go 91-71; Cardinals must go 24-16 (.600)

... play just below .500 from here:

Reds will go 90-72; Cardinals must go 23-17 (.575)

... play .557 (like the Cardinals) from here:

Reds will go 92-70; Cardinals must go 25-15 (.625)

... play .595 from here:

Reds will go 94-68; Cardinals must go 27-13 (.675)

Where the standings really get cold and calculating is if the Cardinals stumble, if the Cardinals continue to play .500 ball like they have since, you know, May. If the Cardinals play .500 from here to end, they'll finish with an 88-74 record.

Here's another number for you: 17.

That is how many wins the Reds would need in their final 37 games to win the division. That, of course, means playing less than .500 ball in the final month of the season.

Wainwright is the subject of today's poll, which you can find above (3), and there will be more updates here throughout the morning and into the afternoon. Among the entries ahead: A look at how much the Pirates and Cardinals spent on prospects this season ...

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UPDATE: My apologies. As I began working on that detailed look at what teams -- including the Cardinals -- spent on draft picks, I realized that it was too long and too involved to include in this one entry. So, I spent more time on it and broke it off into the its own entry. That's posted now. Right above this one. Promise.

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One of the odd quirks of Wainwright's blossoming career is his struggles at PNC Park. He's unbeaten there at 5-0, but his ERA is nosing toward 6.00 and he remembers the park as a place that he's had two of the most difficult starts of his career. When folks trotted out the tired (and superficial) argument that Wainwright got hefty run support last year, they often used a game at PNC Park as their evidence. On reason for the struggles is the presence of hitters on the Pirates' roster that can add the slight spice of personal success agianst the Cardinals' righthander. Consider:

Garrett Jones: 5-for-12, 3 Ks

Andrew McCutchen: 5-for-11, 1 walk, 2 Ks

Ronny Cedeno: 5-for-16, 2 walks, 5 Ks

Lastings Milledge: 4-for-15, 3 extra-base hits, 3 Ks

Not one member of the Pirates' current roster has a homer off Wainwright in his career. So there's that.

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It's going to take a strong finishing kick for Wainwright, but he's still within range of ending the year with what has to be a rare feat: hitting better than hitters hit against him. Wainwright is batting .185 this season, down from his career average of .230. Opponents are hitting .211 against him. The Cardinals righty does have a better on-base percentage (.264) than he's allowed this season (.262) which is probably more remarkable. He's also close to slugging better in his career than opposing batters. Check it out:

2010

Hitters vs. Waino: .211 BA, .262 OBP, .308 SLG

Waino as Hitter:.185 BA, .264 OBP, .246 SLG

Career

Hitters vs. Waino: .242 BA, .299 OBP, .358 SLG

Waino as Hitter: .230 BA, .264 OBP, .344 SLG

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Pinch-hit as a co-host for 101 Sportsline this morning at WXOS/101.1 FM ESPN in St. Louis. The show goes from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. St. Louis time, and you can catch the streaming here.

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