Pirates

Pirates Daily: Mitch Keller Looks to Maintain Momentum

Published

2 years ago

August 10, 2022

Wednesday, Aug. 10, the Pittsburgh Pirates (44-66) play the third game of a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks (50-59) at Chase Field in Phoenix. The first pitch is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET.

The game will be broadcast on AT&T Sportsnet PIT and over the airwaves on SportsRadio 93.7 THE FAN.

Lineup

SS Kevin Newman
DH Bryan Reynolds
3B Ke’Bryan Hayes
RF Ben Gamel
1B Michael Chavis
2B Rodolfo Castro
CF Greg Allen
LF Tucupita Marcano
C Jason Delay

Starters

Mitch Keller (3-8, 4.21 ERA) continues his quest to sink his ERA into the threes against wily veteran left-hander Madison Bumgarner (6-10, 3.96 ERA) and the Snakes.

Keller is starting to hit a groove. In seven of his nine starts, he has pitched six or more innings. Keller is riding a six-game streak of six or more innings. Can he make it seven?

In his last three games, Bumgarner has pitched 19.2 innings and given up 10 runs. His best start in those three games came July 23, when he pitched 8.2 innings and gave up two earned runs against the Washington Nationals.

Betting Odds

The Pittsburgh Pirates open as underdogs with the moneyline reading PIT +145 and ARI -175. The O/U stands at eight runs, with the run lines looking like PIT +1.5 (-150) and ARI -1.5 (+121).

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not?

Who’s Hot: Michael Chavis is hitting .406 (13 for 32) with five RBIs in his last eight starts after hitting two home runs in Tuesday night’s loss to the Diamondbacks.

Who’s Not: Jason Delay is 0 for 9 in his last four games.

Tidbits

Since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on June 20, Oneil Cruz is averaging an RBI every 5.14 at-bats (29 RBI/149 AB), the ninth-highest rate in the NL in that time, behind Atlanta’s Matt Olson (4.42), Milwaukee’s Rowdy Tellez (4.45), the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman (4.61), the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso (4.78) and Daniel Vogelbach (5.00), San Diego’s Brandon Drury (5.07), the Dodgers’ Will Smith (5.07) and the St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt (5.12).
The Pirates have had a total of 41 home runs hit by seven different rookies, tied with the 1890 and 1954 teams for the second most in franchise history, behind only the 2021 ballclub that had 8.
Keller will be making his first career appearance against the Diamondbacks.