Pirates

Pirates Daily: No Heart in San Francisco, Can Pirates Avoid Sweep?

Published

2 years ago

August 14, 2022

Sunday, Aug. 14, the Pittsburgh Pirates (45-69) finish their three-game weekend series against the Giants (56-57) in San Francisco. The Pirates are looking to avoid getting swept or at least score some runs. The first pitch is set for 4.05 p.m. ET at Oracle Park.

The weather in San Francisco at first pitch will be sunny and around 72 degrees. There will be a slight cloud cover and a wind blowing at 11 mph from the west.

The game will air on AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh on the radio on 93.7 The Fan

Starters

Struggling Zach Thompson (3-9, 5-08 ERA) will try and get things going for the Pirates as he will face lefty Alex Wood (8-9, 4.17 ERA).

In his last two starts, Thompson has failed to go a full five innings and was forced to fire off a ton of pitches just to get through four innings and change. Can his fortune change in San Francisco?

Wood is coming off of a really impressive start in San Diego, where he pitched into the seventh inning, gave up three hits, and no earned runs.

Betting Odds

The Pittsburgh Pirates open as +200 underdogs on the moneyline, whereas the Giants are listed as -250 favorites. Pittsburgh’s run line of +1.5 can be had at -110 odds, while San Francisco’s -1.5 can be had at -112. The over/under currently sits at eight runs.

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not

Who’s Hot: Rodolfo Castro has started to turn things on with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In three out of his last five games, Castro has had a multi-hit game. Castro also has at least one extra-base hit in those three games.

Who’s Not: Bligh Madris continues to struggle after going hitless Saturday night against the Giants in four at-bats. Madris’ batting average for August is .087 in 23 at-bats.

Tidbits:

During the month of August, the Pirates lead the Majors with 12 stolen bases, ahead of the Diamondbacks (10), Royals (10), and Marlins (10). The Pirates have also swiped 17 bags since the start of the second half of the season, tied with the D-backs for the second-highest total in the NL behind the Marlins (18) and tied for the third-most, including the Cleveland Guardians, in the major leagues behind only Kansas City (18).
Entering Saturday’s game, the Pirates had 131 instances this season of a reliever throwing multiple innings, the highest total in the National League and the second-highest total in baseball behind the Orioles (134). The last time the Pirates franchise had that many multi-inning outings from relievers was in 2008 with 137.
The Pirates have used 14 different players 24 years old or younger this season, the highest total in baseball and the most the franchise has used in a single season since 2005 (also 14). In total, 51 of the 59 players the Pirates have used this season (86%) are 30 years old or younger, also the highest number in the game.