Pirates

Pirates Preview: Contreras Toes Rubber Hoping to Beat Birds

Published

12 months ago

May 13, 2023

The Battle of the Birds continues Saturday night as the Pittsburgh Pirates (21-18) try and redeem themselves in game two against the Baltimore Orioles (25-13).

The Pirates squandered away another lead in game one against the Orioles, as Jose Hernandez put the Pirates in a less-than-opportune position late in Friday night’s game.

As a result, the Pirates fell to the Orioles 6-3.

First pitch at Camden Yards is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. You can watch all of the action on AT&T Sportsnet, or listen to the game on the Pirates radio station, 93.7 The Fan.

Weather

A few showers are expected around first pitch in Baltimore, but the weather should clear up shortly thereafter. Temperatures will range from 68-72 degrees and will have a slight wind of 3-5 mph blowing northeast.

The Pirates will send out RHP Roansy Contreras (3-3, 4.74 ERA)

Contreras struggled mightily in his last outing on May 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

An old bugaboo for Contreras popped up yet again with a lack of control, and as a result, he walked three batters in five innings pitched. In addition, Contreras walked four on May 2 against the Tampa Bay Rays in 5.1 innings.

Contreras struggled to put batters away in his last outing, and as a result, he allowed five earned runs on nine hits and struck out just four.

Contreras has never faced the Orioles in his career.

The Orioles will send out RHP Tyler Wells (2-1, 3.15 ERA).

In his seven starts for 2023, Wells has gone into the sixth inning five times and has completed at least six full three.

In his last start, Wells faced the Atlanta Braves on May 7 and pitched a full five innings while giving up three hits; one earned run, one walk, and striking out four on 96 pitches (53 strikes).

Wells offers a five-pitch mix with a four-seam (38%), changeup (18.6%), cutter (17.5%), slider (14.9%), and a curveball (11.1%).

Some of the good news for the Pirates is Wells gives up hard contact on the regular with an average EV of 90.2 mph, with his four-seam giving up around 95 mph on average.

Wells has never faced the Pirates in his career.

Interesting Batting Match Ups

Orioles Hitters

No current player in the Orioles lineup has faced Contreras

Pirates Hitters

Miguel Andujar: 2-2 with two doubles off of Wells

Tidbits

The Brewers have finally surpassed the Pirates in the N.L. Central standings with their 5-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. The Brewers now hold a 0.5-game lead over the Pirates.
After going 1-4 at the plate Friday night, Bryan Reynolds finds himself ranked 16th in the N.L. for batting average, with a.296. The next closest Pirate is Connor Joe, with a .273 average.
Despite their rough stretch as of late, the Pirates as a whole still own the fourth-best team ERA in the N.L. with a 3.89. Overall, they are 11th in all of MLB.