PITTSBURGH -- Friday's game notwithstanding, Pittsburgh has dominated the St. Louis Cardinals, particularly at PNC Park, in recent seasons. Perhaps that's a good team to face to try to start a turnaround for Pirates left-hander Francisco Liriano.

Liriano (4-5, 5.25 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday against St. Louis, and he's been struggling. He allowed seven runs in 3 1/3 innings in Pittsburgh's 9-2 loss to the Angels on June 3 and has lost back-to-back starts.

He essentially was skipped in the rotation as the Pirates' schedule was a little haywire over the past week with a rainout, a doubleheader and a one-game trip to Colorado for a makeup game. Pittsburgh opted to bring up Jameson Taillon and start him Wednesday in his major league debut.

Even after losing to St. Louis 9-3 in 12 innings Friday, the Pirates have won five of seven games between the clubs this season and are 22-10 against the Cardinals in the past 32 games played at PNC Park.

Liriano is 7-2 with a 2.41 ERA in 14 career starts against the Cardinals. But there is little question he will need to get past his recent control issues.

Asked following the loss to the Angels if he had an idea about a solution, Liriano said, "To be honest, no. Just going through a tough time right now. I'm not making pitches, not executing pitches, and getting behind the count too much."

Solutions have been difficult to find because there is more than one problem.

"It's everything," Liriano said. "Mechanically, overthrowing a little bit sometimes. Sometimes I go too slow to the plate."

Liriano is scheduled to pitch against St. Louis right-hander Carlos Martinez -- who made a cameo Friday night as a pinch-runner in the 12th.

Martinez is 2-4 with a 4.57 ERA in six career starts against Pittsburgh. The last time he faced the Pirates, May 6, he left after 3 1/3 innings because of fatigue, the second-shortest outing of his career.

He has contributed to St. Louis' struggles at PNC Park, where he is 1-2 with a 5.30 ERA in six appearances (two starts).

Overall, Martinez has won two starts in a row, however, after a rough May (1-5, 5.18 ERA).

Martinez might have turned a corner out of his funk on Memorial Day in a 6-0 win at Milwaukee. He mixed his pitches effectively and hit 100 mph with his fastball.

"That's who he can be," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said after that game. "He can be as dominating as anybody in the game when he puts it all together."

It's just that St. Louis hasn't put things all together all that often against Pittsburgh.

"The Pirates are a tough team to beat, especially in that ballpark," St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright said.

It will be difficult for either club to catch the Cubs in the NHL Central, setting up meetings between Pittsburgh and St. Louis as a strong division rivalry in the chase for a wild-card spot. With the win Friday, the Pirates pulled out of a tie for second with the Cardinals, but still are nine games back of Chicago, which lost to Atlanta.