Pirates

Pirates Preview: Bucs Play Reds on Hall of Fame Day

Published

2 months ago

August 24, 2024

The Pittsburgh Pirates came back from five runs down to defeat the Cincinnati Reds 6-5 at PNC Park on Friday night.

Joey Bart and Bryan De La Cruz helped spark the come-from-behind victory and Dennis Santana got his first Pirates’ win after tossing two innings of scoreless relief.

The Pirates (61-67) will continue their series against the Reds (62-67) on Saturday night. Prior to first pitch, the Pirates will honor their three-man 2024 Hall of Fame class consisting of Barry Bonds, Jim Leyland and Manny Sanguillen.

First pitch is set for 6:40 ET and the game will be aired on SportsNet Pittsburgh.

Weather

Hot and sunny. Temperatures in the 80s with winds blowing S-SW at 5-6 mph.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Will Send Out RHP Jake Woodford (0-5, 6.67 ERA)

Woodford pitched well in his first two starts with the Pirates have getting selected from Triple-A Indianapolis but struggled in his last one.

The right-hander allowed three unearned runs in five innings in Houston on July 31 and held the Padres to one one across six innings on Aug. 12. In his last start, Woodford was knocked around for seven runs (five earned) on nine hits.

Through his first five appearances with the Pirates, Woodford has only walked one batter across 18.2 innings. Opponents have hit .240 against him with a .679 OPS.

Woodford has faced the Reds 12 times in his career, tied for the most he’s had against any one team. He gone 0-2 with a 5.70 ERA against them.

The Cincinnati Reds Will Send Out RHP Julian Aguiar (0-0, 4.50 ERA)

Aguiar made his MLB debut on Monday against the Blue Jays in Toronto and allowed two runs in four innings in a 6-3 Reds’ win.

The 23-year-old is ranks as the Reds’ 11th-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline. In 22 starts between Double-A and Triple-A this season, Aguilar went 5-4 with a 3.79 ERA and struck out 95 batters against 29 walks in 116.1 innings.

The right-hander throws a sinker, changeup, curveball and slider.

This will be his first time facing the Pirates.

Reds Hitters vs. Woodford

Jonathan India: 4 for 6, one home run, three RBIs, two walks
TJ Fredl: 1 for 5
Dominic Smith: 2 for 4, one RBI, one walk
Spencer Steer: 1 for 4, one home run, one RBI

Pirates Hitters vs. Aguilar

Tidbits

Aroldis Chapman struck out three batters in the eighth inning, giving him 1,227 in his career. He passed Hall of Famer Lee Smith for fourth all-time for strikeouts by a reliever.
Oneil Cruz finished 1 for 3 with a double and a walk and has now reached base in 15-straight games. That’s tied for the second-longest by a Pirates’ player this season.
Dating back to their series at Great American Ballpark at the end of June, the Pirates have won four-straight games against the Reds.