The Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Angels will kick off a weekend interleague series in Anaheim on Friday night. The Pittsburgh Pirates, after a surprising start to the season that had them battling for first place through the first two months of the season, are now in last place in the NL Central Division. The Angels, meanwhile, are in third place in the AL West. The pitching matchup on Friday night will feature Pirates' righty Johan Oviedo (3-10, 4.73) taking on Angels' ace Shohei Ohtani (7-5, 3.50). The first pitch is scheduled for 9:38 PM EST.
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In the not-too-distant past of the 2023 season, the Pirates were battling with the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central Division. Fast forward to the present day and the Pirates have sunk back down into last place and come into this series with a record of 42-54. The Pirates just wrapped up a three-game series in which the Bucs dropped two of three games to the Guardians. On Wednesday, the Pirates were able to end a five-game losing streak with a 7-5 win over Cleveland. The Bucs rallied for five runs in the seventh inning to pick up the win.
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— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 19, 2023
The Pirates will hit the road and send Johan Oviedo to the hill on Friday night. Oviedo is just 3-10 on the season in 19 starts this season including nine quality starts. He has allowed 103 hits in 107.1 innings of work and has an ERA of 4.53. Oviedo owns a K/9 rate of 8.1 and a WHIP of 1.36. On the road, Oviedo is just 1-5 with an ERA of 4.75 in nine starts. He has three quality starts on the road and his K/9 rate is 9.3 with a WHIP of 1.56. In his last three starts, Oviedo has struggled to an 0-2 record with an ERA of nearly seven.
Key Injuries: 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes is out.