A pair of teams that are below the .500 mark from the National League close out a series in the Valley of the Sun. The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road as they play the finale of a four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks Thursday afternoon. Arizona won the first two games of the series to ensure no worse than a split: they prevailed 3-1 in the opener Monday night and followed that up with a 6-4 triumph Tuesday night. Which team gets the victory here on getaway day? This article was published prior to the conclusion of the third game of the series on the diamond at Chase Field Wednesday night.
Pittsburgh lost their second straight and fourth in the last five games as they were knocked off in the second game of the series Tuesday night. The Pirates entered Wednesday tied for fourth in the NL Central, 16.5 games behind the Cardinals for the top spot in the division race. In the NL wild card picture, Pittsburgh was 16.5 games behind the Padres for the final wild card spot. On Tuesday night, Pittsburgh got two hits from Ke’Bryan Hayes (run), Oneil Cruz and Michael Chavis (two runs, three RBI) though it wasn’t enough. Chavis hit his 11th and 12th homers of the season in the loss. Zach Thompson (3-9) took the loss as he allowed two runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts over 4.2 innings of work.
JT Brubaker is on the mound as he makes his 22nd start of the season for the Pirates in this contest. He comes into this game 2-10 with a 4. 49 ERA, a 1.523 WHIP, 44 walks and 111 strikeouts over 108.1 innings of work on the year. Brubaker took the loss in his last start, which came Saturday on the road against the Orioles. He threw four innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with two walks and six strikeouts in an eventual 6-3 Pirates defeat. In his last three starts, Brubaker is 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA, a 2.23 WHIP, four walks and 14 strikeouts over 14.1 innings of work. Brubaker makes his third career start against the Diamondbacks in this contest. He comes in 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA, a 1.778 WHIP, four walks and nine strikeouts over nine innings of work against them. Brubaker, in his 57th career appearance and 55th major league start, makes his first career start at Chase Field.