35,183 Pittsburgh Pirates fans packed PNC Park hoping to see a victory against the St. Louis Cardinals, however after a 4-1 loss Thursday night left disappointed.
The Pirates hope to reverse their fortune while also avoiding the rain, something that has not happened as of late tonight.
Tonight Gerrit Cole will face off against Lance Lynn.
Cole is making his 18th start of the season and his 12 wins are a major league best total. It was a tale of two starts for Cole in his last start, a win against the Cleveland Indians. Cole allowed three runs in eight innings but got stronger as his start continued into the later innings. He is 7-1 with a 2.19 ERA in his last nine starts and is 6-2 with a 2.82 ERA in eight starts at PNC Park. Cole has a 1-2 record to go along with a 3.42 ERA in four career starts against the Cardinals.
Lynn ranks fifth in the National League with a 0.49 home runs-per-nine rate and is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in his last three starts. His teammates give him 2.83 run support average which is fifth lowest in the NL. Lynn is making his 15th career start against the Pirates and is 5-3 versus the NL Central rival with a 4.43 ERA. Lynn previously started against the Pirates this season earning a no-decision despite pitching seven innings and striking out a season-high 10 batters.
Seventh inning stretch: Outside of a four-run inning from Jeff Locke in last night’s loss, the Pirates starting pitching has done its job as of late. Pirates starting pitching has won 38 games this season, second only to the Cardinals who after last night have 40 wins from its rotation.
Pirates starting pitchers are 41-21 this season when a starting pitcher goes six or more innings.
“We feed off each other and learn from each other,” Gerrit Cole said. “We try to carry a certain look out there as a unit. Charlie’s going to offer you a sinker and a curveball. A.J.’s going to offer you a backdoor two-seamer and curveballs. Frankie’s a wild card, good luck guessing what the hell he’s going to throw. The mentality and the look is the same.”
Cole also looked back on a particular moment from his season in which he got out of a tough situation against the Chicago Cubs.
With the bases loaded and no one out, Cole had to trust himself and the moment brought a conversation with manager Clint Hurdle following the game.
“He told me that it looked like you didn’t want to let anyone else play,” said Cole. “I told him I had to take matters into my own hands. I’d say it was an opportunity laid out in front of me and I wasn’t going to shy away from it. You don’t want to get yourself in those jams, but you better enjoy yourself and picture yourself thriving in those moments. If you shy away from them, you’re going to get beat up.”
Bottom of the ninth: Pirate opponents have scored first in each of the past five games and are 30-7 this season when scoring first… The Pirates currently have a team ERA of 2.84. This has the potential to be the second time [1968] that the Pirates have a sub-3.00 team ERA prior to an All-Star Break…Since May 7, Andrew McCutchen is batting .355… The Pirates have a 2.59 home ERA this season… Chris Stewart has a 1.96 catcher’s ERA, allowing 43 earned runs in 197.1 innings. Stewart is batting .366 in his last 11 starts… Jung Ho Kang has a .368 average this season against the Cardinals… Mark Melancon is two saves shy of 100 for his career… After three scoreless innings in Thursday’s relief appearance, Vance Worley has a 1.74 ERA in 23 innings since joining the bullpen.
Photo courtesy: USATSI
