The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals have been building a true rivalry since the 2013 season. The same season saw the Pirates eliminated from the playoffs by the Cardinals in the NLDS. The 2015 season has added to that rivalry and Sunday night was a chance for the two great teams to showcase themselves on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. This game was also the final game before the 2015 All-Star Break.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead when Mark Reynolds grounded into a double play that scored Jason Heyward to put the Red Birds up 1-0.

The Pirates responded in the bottom of the second inning when starter Francisco Liriano drove in both Francisco Cervelli and Gregory Polanco. The Pirates took a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the third, however, St. Louis was able to respond. Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta hit a solo shot to tie the game at two runs apiece.

The Pirates kept battling, as they did all series, and pushed a run across in the bottom of the fifth inning. Gregory Polanco singled in Sean Rodriguez to put the Pirates up 3-2 off of Cardinals starter Tim Cooney.

The Cardinals battled back and ended up loading the bases in the top of the eighth inning against Pirates reliever Tony Watson. Catcher Yadier Molina grounded out to score the tying run and make it 3-3.

In the top of the tenth inning, with the bases loaded, Randal Grichuk drove in two runs on a triple to put the Cardinals ahead 5-3.

However, the battling Bucs found a way yet again. The Pirates scored three runs in the bottom of the tenth to walk it off against Trevor Rosenthal of the Cardinals. Gregory Polanco singled in Jung Ho Kang to score the game-winning run.

This was very uncharacteristic of Rosenthal but the Pirates need to be given tons of credit. They are very underrated and the prediction by ESPN's own Buster Olney of them being in the 2015 World Series are more than just possible.

In baseball, it's a streaky game for the most part. Not only do teams go on streaks but players are usually streaky when hitting at times. After the midway point, however, it's easy to see where a team should be each night.

One thing remained constant in a little more than half of the 2015 year for the Pittsburgh Pirates and it's their pitching staff. Second in the majors behind just St. Louis in ERA, the Pirates pitching staff is going to keep them in games night in and night out. The variable, at least for a good portion of the first half, was the Pirates offense.They struggled to score runs at times but they have gotten better as has Andrew McCutchen. He told reporters back in May when he was struggling that he is "Tired of going 0-for-freaking-4" and once he started (hitting) he would not stop.

McCutchen has done just that and then some. He has not stopped, batting .300 headed into the All-Star Break. McCutchen also lifted the Pirates to victory in the fourteenth inning Saturday to lift his team to victory. Francisco Cervelli also has to be applauded for his performance in the first half. Cervelli is batting .294 going into the break and has been good defensively too. The question was if the Pirates could fill the void of Russell Martin and so far they have addressed that concern.

While this was just one series, the PIrates showed they can not only hang but win against the best. The Cardinals are the best in baseball. Sure the Pirates didn't have to face Michael Wacha and the Cardinals are hurt. However, the Pirates also have endured a bit of an injury bug and will after the All-Star Break. That's the grind of the schedule. Talks of Ben Revere being traded to the Pirates, which was first reported by Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:

#pirates have spoken to #phillies about Jeff Francouer and Ben Revere. The latter would be good leadoff option while Harrison is on DL.

— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) July 12, 2015

If that were to happen, the Pirates have to be considered one of the favorites to win the World Series. This could be just hype that ends up turning into dust with an early exit, or even no entrance into the playoffs for Pittsburgh. But this is not one of those Pittsburgh teams that collapsed after the All-Star Break. They are not inexperienced and they need to be taken very seriously. They could go on a losing streak, but the Pirates seem to be well on their way to another playoff berth. If they stay healthy, they have as good of a chance as anyone. If they also require Revere and Francouer, they could survive injuries.

For the sake of predictions, the Pittsburgh Pirates will play the Washington Nationals in the NLCS and the Kansas City Royals will face the Houston Astros in the ALCS. Either way, the Pirates are one of those teams that may be destined to win it. That was the feel for the aforementioned Royals, so that remains to be seen. But night in and night out, the Pirates are the favorite from here on out.