Pittsburgh will try to clinch a series victory when it faces Cincinnati in the second game of a three-game series on Saturday afternoon. The Pirates picked up a 5-4 win against the Reds on Opening Day, using an eighth-inning sacrifice fly to break a 4-4 tie. They have now won eight straight head-to-head meetings between these teams.
Pittsburgh comes into the 2023 campaign with more depth at almost every position than it had last year, supplementing its youth with some established veterans in the offseason. The Pirates are coming off back-to-back 100-loss seasons, so they have plenty of room for improvement. They got off to a quick start on Thursday, beating Cincinnati to get off to a 1-0 start. Pittsburgh scored on a pair of bases-loaded walks in the fourth inning and added a run on a wild pitch to take a 4-1 lead. Cincinnati scored the next three runs to tie the game, but the Pirates scored the final run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
Opening Day is a special day. pic.twitter.com/mQxeLbJO2W
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 31, 2023
Rookie shortstop Ji-Hwan Bae scored two runs and had two hits, while veteran designated hitter Andrew McCutchen scored a run and had a hit in his first game back with his old team. Veteran left-handed pitcher Rich Hill is starting for Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon. The 43-year-old signed a one-year, $8 million contract in the offseason after posting a 4.27 ERA and 1.30 WHIP across 124.1 innings with Boston last year. He has faced Cincinnati 14 times during his career, going 5-3 with a 3.48 ERA and 73 strikeouts. His latest appearance against the Reds came in 2021, when he allowed four earned runs on five hits across 5.0 innings.
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