Good afternoon from PNC Park where tonight, in front of a FOX Baseball Night in America audience, the Pirates (21-26) look to extend their three-game win streak against the Nationals (24-24). Gerrit Cole (4-3, 3.84 ERA) will face Stephen Strasburg (3-3, 3.38 ERA) in a battle of #1 overall picks.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On the matchup of Cole v. Strasburg tonight: “It’s one of those marquee matchups. I’m excited for the game and I hope it all plays out because the guy over there [Strasburg], I’ve got a ton of personal respect for. He’s already had to meet some challenges. A quick burst of energy to the league, to the game and to the hometown team he pitches for. Our guy, a similar situation last year. A burst of energy to baseball, to the league, to Pittsburgh. To see them go toe-to-toe today could turn out to be very entertaining. Those kind of games get you saying ‘yeah, I hope this is a good one.’
This marks the first time that two overall picks started against each other in a Major League game since Kansas City’s Luke Hochevar (#1 in 2006) faced Tampa Bay’s David Price (#1 in 2007) on 8/21/2012 at Tampa Bay; both pitchers tossed eight scoreless innings that day as the Royals prevailed 1-0 in 10 innings. The last time it occurred in the National League was when New York’s Kris Benson (#1 pick with the Pirates in 1996) opposed Cincinnati’s Paul Wilson (#1 pick with the Mets in 1994) on 5/16/2005 in New York. Benson and the Mets won that matchup 9-2.
Other Notes
— The Pirates have collected at least 10 hits in six of their last eight home games, going 82-for-268 (.306) and sporting a 6-2 record in that time. In 13 games during the month of May, the Bucs are batting .302 (136-451) at PNC Park while going 9-4 with 65 runs scored (5.0 per game average).
— In his first 20 games this month, Andrew McCutchen is hitting .347 (25-for-72). He batted .324 last year during the month of May and his career average of .324 (150-for-463) in May is his highest among all of the months.
— The Pirates have gone 11-8 in their last 19 games after losing seven-of-eight. They won a season-high four straight games from 5/6-5/10. They were a season-high three games over .500 (6-3 record) on 4/10. They had a record of 29-18 after 47 games in 2013 (29-19 after 48).
Tonight’s Pirates Lineup
First pitch is set for 7:15 on FOX.
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(Photo Credit: Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
