Pirates

Pirates Preview: For the First Time This Season, a Matchup With Cubs

Published

11 months ago

June 13, 2023

The Pittsburgh Pirates (34-30) are coming off a lengthy, nine-game homestand in which they had a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Oakland A’s and the New York Mets.

After sweeping the Cardinals, the Pirates dropped two out of three from a suddenly-hot A’s team before bouncing back to claim a series victory against the Mets.

In the final game against the Mets on Sunday, Andrew McCutchen finally notched the 2,000th hit of his major league career, becoming the 291st player all-time to reach the milestone.

Now, the Pirates will be back on the road and for the first time this season, will face the division-rival Chicago Cubs (28-37).

The first pitch at Wrigley Field is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET. Tuesday’s game will be aired on AT&T Sportsnet.

Weather

The weather in Chicago looks spotty with a 40% chance of rain at first pitch and a high temperature of 66 degrees. Winds WNW ranging from 10-20 mph.

The Pirates will send out RHP Luis Ortiz (1-2, 4.23 ERA)

Ortiz’s last outing came in relief on Jun. 7 against the A’s. The right-hander allowed two runs and surrendered 10 hits across five innings. He walked two and struck out one.

In five starts since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, Ortiz is 1-2 with a 4.37 ERA across 22.2 innings pitched.

His best start of the season came against the Texas Rangers on May 22, when he threw a career-high 7.2 innings and limited the Rangers to only a pair of runs.

Ortiz has made one start against the Cubs in his career, coming last year in Pittsburgh. Although he took the loss, the right-hander held Chicago to a lone run in 4.2 innings and struck out a career-high seven batters.

The Cubs will send out RHP Jameson Taillon (1-4, 7.02 ERA)

The Pirates will be facing a familiar face in Taillon, who pitched four seasons with the club from 2016-19.

In his first season with the Cubs after signing a four-year $68M contract in the offseason, Taillon has struggled in the North Side of Chicago.

Opponents are hitting .287 with an OPS of .827 against the Cubs’ right-hander through his first 10 starts of the season.

Taillon has looked better in his two starts in the month of June. The 31-year old is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA in his outings during the current month.

He’s faced his former team one other time and took the loss after allowing five runs in 5.1 innings at PNC Park last July while pitching with the Yankees.

Cubs Hitters

Ian Happ: 0 for 2, one strikeout
Nico Hoerner: 0 for 2, one strikeout

Pirates Hitters

Carlos Santana: 0 for 13, two walks, two strikeouts
Andrew McCutchen: 0 for 4, three strikeouts
Jack Suwinski: 2 for 3, one home run

Tidbits

In the month of June, Ke’Bryan Hayes leads all major leaguers with a .486 batting average and is fourth in the league with a 1.270 OPS.
While Ortiz has a 3.86 in his two appearances in the month of June, opponents are hitting .393 against him and have posted a 1.147 OPS.
Though McCutchen collected his 2,000th hit, he’s about to reach another milestone. His next double will be the 400th of his major league career and his 300th while in a Pirates’ uniform.