Pirates

Pirates Daily: Not Quite the ‘Buctober’ of Your Dreams

Published

2 years ago

October 1, 2022

Saturday, Oct. 1, the Pittsburgh Pirates (59-98) are on the road to face the St. Louis Cardinals (91-66). First pitch at Busch Stadium is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. for fans on the east coast.

Johan Oviedo did his job, as he went six innings and gave up only two earned runs Friday night. Despite that, the Pirates offense was inept, and Oviedo took the loss in a 2-1 victory for the Cardinals. The Pirates must go 5-1 to avoid their second straight 100-loss season.

The game will be aired on AT&T Sportsnet PIT and heard on 93.7 The Fan.

Weather

Beautiful weather is expected in St. Louis at first pitch. The temperature is expected to be around 71 degrees, and there will be an 8-mph wind blowing from the northeast.

Starters

The Pirates will send out impressive rookie Luis Ortiz (0-1, 1.17 ERA).

Although Ortiz only went 4.2 innings in his previous start Sunday, he made an impact. Ortiz induced 15 swings and misses from Chicago Cubs’ batters. Ten out of his 15 swings and misses were from his slider. For having just two pitches in his arsenal, the young hurler can pitch.

The Cardinals will send out left-hander Jordan Montgomery (8-6, 3.50 ERA).

Montgomery struggled in his last outing last Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Montgomery pitched just four innings, and gave up six earned runs and seven hits. Seems like a likely redemption game against the struggling Pirates’ offense.

Betting Odds

The Cardinals open up as favorites on the moneyline at -250, and the Pirates are +210. St. Louis’ runline of -1.5 can be had at -110 odds, whereas Pittsburgh’s +1.5 is at -111 odds. The O/U opens up at 7 runs.

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Who’s Hot/Who’s Not

Who’s Hot: Rookie Ji-Hwan Bae may have struggled in the outfield with a dropped ball Friday night, but he did register a multi-hit game. Bae, in fact, was the only Pirates player with two or more hits.

Who’s Not: On a bright note, rookie shortstop Oneil Cruz walked two times. On a less-than-ideal note, Cruz struck out three times. These types of games happen.

Tidbits

When Bryan Reynolds was hit by a pitch in the third inning Friday night, it marked three straight games that happened. The longest such streak prior by a Pirates hitter was Starling Marte, who was also hit in three straight games in 2015.
The only other Pirates player to have a longer hit-by-pitch streak was Richie Hebner in 1975 with four games in a row.
Prior to Friday’s game, the Pirates starting rotation had posted a 3.12 ERA. In that span, only three other MLB teams had been better. Astros (2.47 ERA), Cubs (3.01 ERA), and Dodgers (3.09 ERA).