It’s the end of the first weekend of 2023 MLB season and a pair of NL Central rivals close out a series against each other in the land of Skyline chili. The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road as they finish up a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds Sunday afternoon. In the opening game of the season Thursday afternoon, Pittsburgh earned a 5-4 victory to draw first blood in the season series. The teams were off Friday and played the middle game of their set Saturday afternoon. This article was published prior to the conclusion of Saturday’s contest. Which team gets the upper hand here on getaway day?
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Pittsburgh managed to earn a win in the opening game of the series as they took advantage of an inconsistent Reds bullpen to come up with the victory. The Pirates look to earn a road series win to open the season as they close things out here. Against Cincinnati, Pittsburgh trailed 1-0 early, took a 4-1 lead and found themselves even at four before taking the lead for good in the eighth inning. The Pirates finished the game with six hits with Ji Hwan Bae (two runs) the lone player with two. Oneil Cruz (his first) homered in the second inning and drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth to give Pittsburgh the win. Mitch Keller didn’t factor in the decision as he threw 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. Rob Zastryzny (1-0) earned the win with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief, allowing no hits or walks, while striking out one. David Bednar threw a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit with no walks and two strikeouts, to earn his first save.
Vince Velasquez is on the mound for his first start of the season for the Pirates after coming over in free agency during the offseason. He made 27 appearances, nine starts, for the White Sox last season, going 3-3 with a 4.78 ERA, a 1.235 WHIP, 25 walks and 69 strikeouts over 75.1 innings of work. Velasquez makes his sixth career appearance and fourth start against the Reds in this contest. He comes in 0-1 with a 6.08 ERA, a 2.10 WHIP, 11 walks and 16 strikeouts over 13.1 innings of work against them. Velasquez is 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA, a 2.273 WHIP, 10 walks and 12 strikeouts over 11 innings in three career starts at the Great American Ball Park.
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