Pirates

Pirates Preview: Can Bucs Earn Third-Straight Series Win?

Published

8 months ago

June 12, 2024

The Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off their six-game road trip with a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Paul Skenes matched Miles Mikolas’ dominance by going 6.1-scoreless innings in another excellent start. The Pirates (32-34) struck twice in the ninth inning to lift them over the Cardinals (31-34).

The Pirates will go for their third-straight series win with Bailey Falter on the mound in the second game of the series on Wednesday night.

First pitch is 7:45 ET and the game will be aired on Sportsnet Pittsburgh.

Weather

Hot and sunny. Winds S-SSE at 8 mph.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Will Send Out LHP Bailey Falter (3-3, 3.69 ERA)

For the first time in a while, Falter struggled in his latest start for the Pirates.

Facing the Dodgers at PNC Park, the left-hander allowed five runs and yielded a pair of home runs in four-plus innings pitched in an 11-7 loss.

Prior to his start against the Dodgers, Falter had a miniscule 1.67 ERA in his last four starts. He hadn’t allowed a run in two of those four outings.

Falter has faced the Cardinals three times in his career and has done well. He owns a 1-0 record with a 3.29 ERA and has struck out 15 in 13.2 innings.

The St. Louis Cardinals Will Send Out RHP Sonny Gray (7-4, 3.21 ERA)

Gray signed with St. Louis as a free agent after an All-Star campaign in Minnesota last season.

The veteran right-hander is off to an excellent start in his first season with the Cardinals. Gray’s 11.97 strikeouts per nine innings ranks third among pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched.

While the overall numbers are excellent, Gray has allowed seven earned runs in 9.2 innings pitched over his last two starts.

Against the Pirates, Gray is 4-4 with a 4.35 ERA in 10 career appearances.

Cardinals Hitters vs. Falter

Nolan Arenado: 2 for 6, one triple, one home run, three RBIs, two strikeouts
Paul Goldschmidt: 2 for 4, one double
Brandon Crawford: 1 for 4, one RBI, two strikeouts
Masyn Winn: 0 for 3, one strikeout

Pirates Hitters vs. Gray

Yasmani Grandal: 5 for 19, two doubles, four RBIs, seven walks, five strikeouts
Bryan Reynolds: 4 for 14, one double, two home runs, three RBIs, six strikeouts
Michael A. Taylor: 3 for 10, one RBI, one walk, four strikeouts
Andrew McCutchen: 2 for 10, one double, two RBIs, one walk, four strikeouts
Ke’Bryan Hayes: 2 for 6, two RBIs, two strikeouts
Rowdy Tellez: 0 for 4, one RBI, one walk, one strikeout
Edward Olivares: 1 for 3, one RBI
Connor Joe: 0 for 3

Tidbits

Paul Skenes’ 6.1 innings and 103 pitches in Tuesday’s game were both career-highs.
David Bednar now has two-straight games with two strikeouts. He hadn’t had multiple strikeouts in a game since Apr. 27 prior to his last two appearances.
Oneil Cruz plated a huge run with a sacrifice fly for the Pirates in the ninth, but his road struggles continued. Cruz is slashing .200/.233/.304 away from PNC Park this season.