A pair of teams off to solid enough starts in the opening six weeks of the season close out an interleague set on the diamond in Charm City. The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road as they close out a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles Sunday afternoon. In the opening game of the series on Friday night, it was the Orioles earning a 6-3 victory to draw first blood in the series and defend their home field. Will the Pirates raise the Jolly Roger on getaway day or can the Orioles defend their home turf and prevail in this contest? This article was published prior to the conclusion of the middle game of the series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards Saturday night.
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Just a couple of weeks ago, the Pirates were the talk of baseball, sitting at 20-8 after pummeling the Nationals on April 29. Pittsburgh entered Saturday losers of 10 of their last 11 games and stood 21-18 on the year, second in the NL Central, half a game behind the Brewers for the top spot. On Friday night, Pittsburgh got two hits from Jack Suwinski (RBI) and Ji Hwan Bae (run), while Connor Joe hit his fifth homer of the season, yet fell short. Johan Oviedo didn’t factor in the decision as he threw five innings, allowing one run on four hits with five walks and three strikeouts. Jose Hernandez (0-1) took the loss on the mound in relief as he allowed two runs on two hits with no walks or strikeouts in one-third of an inning.
Mitch Keller takes the ball as he logs his ninth start of the year for the Pirates in this contest. He is 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA, a 1.087 WHIP, 14 walks and 56 strikeouts o ver 49.2 innings of work on the year. Keller earned the win in his last start, which came against the Rockies at home Monday night. He threw nine innings, allowing no runs on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in a 2-0 Pirates triumph. In his last three starts, Keller is 2-1 with a 1.35 ERA, a 0.85 WHIP, three walks and 26 strikeouts over 20 innings of work. Keller took the loss in his lone career start against the Orioles, which came on the road on August 5, 2022. He threw six innings, allowing one run on eight hits with one walk and one strikeout in a game the Pirates dropped 1-0. That start came at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, giving him at least a passing familiarity with the park.