Pittsburgh Pirates (44-65) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (49-59)
Wednesday will see an interesting contest out in the desert when the Pittsburgh Pirates take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona won the first game of the series, defeating Pittsburgh on Monday, 3-0. These teams played on Tuesday, but this preview was written prior to the conclusion of that contest.
This game should be interesting, as it pits two starting pitchers who have performed very well this season. Coupled with the fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks are still tangentially in the NL wildcard race, and this game should be entertaining as Pittsburgh would like to play spoiler while Arizona is trying to keep their thin playoff hopes alive. These teams have split the first four meetings between them.
Oddsmakers clearly see the Diamondbacks as the favorite in this contest, as they come in at -175 while the Pirates are it +145. When giving up 1.5 runs, the odds for Arizona change to +120 while Pittsburgh is at -140 when receiving 1.5 runs. The total is set at 8.0 (over: -110, under: -110).
The Pirates started things off right in August, sweeping a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers, but then dropped two of three against Baltimore before losing to Arizona on Monday. That moved the club to 4-6 in their last 10, as they are 16.5 games out in the NL Central race and are all but eliminated from the wildcard as well, 15.5 games out.
#RaiseIt pic.twitter.com/aahND4PlgQ
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) August 7, 2022
Pittsburgh has not been very good statistically this season, 28th in runs per game (3.68) and 26th in runs allowed per contest (5.09). It has been a lack of power and consistency in the lineup that has hurt this club as they are 29th in team batting average (.220) and 18th in homeruns (108).
While there have not been many great performers on the Pirates this season, Mitch Keller has been the exception. The right-hander is 3-8 with a 4.21 ERA in 19 starts and two relief appearances. He was brilliant in his last start, allowing one run in 6.0 innings to the Baltimore Orioles (Au gust 5). In his last five starts, he has allowed one run or fewer in four of those starts and has allowed six total earned runs in his last 31.0 innings. Keller is the real deal, but he has to rely on a bullpen to close things out, a group posting a 4.40 ERA.