It’s the finale of a shortened interleague set on the diamond in the Big Apple between one team heading to the postseason and one heading to another offseason of discontent. The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road as they close a two-game series with the New York Yankees Wednesday night. Pittsburgh was swept in a four-game set on the road by the Mets, losing 7-3 in the series finale Sunday afternoon. New York salvaged the finale of their three-game set on the road against the Brewers as they won 12-8 Sunday afternoon. This article was published prior to the conclusion of the opening game of the set Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
Pittsburgh followed up their four-game sweep of the Reds by getting swept in a four-game set by the Mets where they were outscored 23-8. The Pirates entered Tuesday last in the NL Central, 31.5 games behind the Cardinals for the top spot in the division race. They have been eliminated from playoff contention, leaving them out of the postseason for the seventh straight season. On Sunday, Pittsburgh finished with only five hits with Oneil Cruz (run, three RBI) the only player with two. Cruz hit his 17th homer of the season in the sixth inning to tie the game at three before the Pirates gave up four in the eighth to lose the contest. Johan Oviedo didn’t factor in the decision as he threw four innings, allowing three runs on five hits with four walks and six strikeouts. Robert Stephenson (2-2) took the loss in relief as he allowed one run on two hits with no walks and one strikeout in one inning of relief.
Roansy Contreras is on the bump for the Pirates as he makes his 19th appearance and 16th start of the season in this contest. He comes in 5-4 with a 3.24 ERA, a 1.272 WHIP, 35 walks and 74 strikeouts over 83.1 innings of action on the year. Contreras didn’t factor in the decision in his last start, which came against the Reds last Wednesday. He threw four innings, allowing one run on three hits with no walks and three strikeouts in a 10-4 Pirates victory. In his last three starts, Contreras is 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, four walks and nine strikeouts over 15.1 innings of work. He makes his first career start against the Yankees in this, his 20th career major league appearance and his 17th start. As a result, this marks his first career start at Yankee Stadium as well.