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Pirates Preview: Rich Hill Tries to Help Sweep Cardinals

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Pittsburgh Pirates- Rich Hill

The Pittsburgh Pirates (30-27) face the St. Louis Cardinals in game three with a chance to sweep the Red Birds and earn their first sweep since April 23 when they beat the Cincinnati Reds in four-straight games.

The Pirates earned a 4-3 victory Saturday night after a sixth-inning surge from the offense and a stellar performance from the bullpen.

Angel Perdomo pitched for the first time since Aug. 2021 and pitched 2.1 perfect innings.

The first pitch at PNC Park is scheduled for 11:35 a.m. Sunday’s game will be aired on Peacock, and Albert Pujols will be a part of the broadcast team.

Weather

It should be a mostly sunny day for game three. Temperatures are expected to range from 72-78 degrees throughout the contest. 8-9 mph winds should be expected and will blow northeast.

The Pirates will send out LHP Rich Hill (4-5, 4.76 ERA)

Although Hill went six full innings in his last start against San Francisco on May 29, he struggled.

Hill’s bad outing can be summed up in the second inning, where he allowed five out of his six earned runs and five out of his nine hits.

Hill struggled with pitch placement in that inning, with the majority of the hits having balls in advantageous locations. Surprisingly, all but two hits weren’t hit all that hard.

Hill has faced the Cardinals ten times (nine starts) and holds a 4-2 record with an ERA of 4.50 in 44 innings pitched.

The Cardinals will send out RHP Miles Mikolas (4-1, 3.75 ERA)

Mikolas had a tremendous May.

In 38 innings pitched, Mikolas allowed 30 hits, eight earned runs, six walks, and struck out 29 with around a 66% strike percentage.

In addition, Mikolas earned three wins in six starts in May and didn’t suffer one loss in that time frame.

Mikolas offers a four-pitch mix, with the occasional fifth pitch. Mikolas offers a sinker (27.9%), slider (24.1%), four-seam (23.5%), and a curveball (20.3%). On occasion, Mikolas will throw a changeup (4.3%).

Cardinals Hitters

  • Paul Goldschmidt: 12-23, with three homers, and three walks
  • Wilson Contreras: 4-11, with a double, three walks, and three strikeouts

Pirates Hitters

  • Ke’Bryan Hayes: 5-13, with a double and a triple
  • Bryan Reynolds 10-30 with four doubles
  • Andrew McCutchen: 2-19

Tidbits

  • Connor Joe has now recorded four RBIs in his last three games and has recorded five hits in that span.
  • With the 6 foot 8 Perdomo making his Pirates’ debut Saturday, he is now tied for second place as the Pirates’ tallest pitcher in the team’s history.
  • With Ke’Bryan Hayes’ fifth-inning homer on Saturday, he’s now homered in back-to-back games for the first time in his career during the same season. Hayes has homered on the last game of the 2020 season and the first game of the 2021 season.

Links

Pittsburgh Pirates Shortstop Cruz Gives Update on Health and Rehab Process

Pittsburgh Pirates Add Two Relievers From Indy, DFA Chris Owings

Perrotto: A Trade The Pittsburgh Pirates Can’t Really Lose (+)

‘Big Bank’ Has Been Big Reason for Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bullpen Turnaround

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