Pittsburgh Pirates Look For Series Victory Over Philadelphia Phillies

At 1:35 this afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates will go for a series victory over their cross-state rivals the Philadelphia Phillies.

A day after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 6-3, the Pittsburgh Pirates will look to capture the series this afternoon. The Pirates, who have won 5 of their last 7 games, would improve to 20-24 on the season with a victory.

This would also give the Bucs back-to-back series victories after taking 2 of 3 from the Washington Nationals earlier this week. It would also make the Pirates 4-0 in series against National League Eastern Division teams this season.

Chad Kuhl is scheduled to start for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Kuhl has certainly suffered from a ‘sophomore slump’ this season. Especially in his past 5 starts.

In 8 starts he has pitched 35 innings allowing 46 hits, 3 home runs, and he is generating ground balls at just a 37.7 percent rate. He is averaging 7.20 K/9, 3.86 BB/9, and he owns a 6.69 ERA, a 4.02 FIP, and a 4.98 xFIP.

As was said above, Kuhl’s past 5 starts have been especially rough. In these starts, he has allowed 21 earned runs on 33 hits, 3 home runs, and 8 walks in 17 1/3 innings pitched. This comes out to a 10.70 ERA and a 5.03 FIP. Additionally, the Pirates have lost 4 of these 5 games.

Left-handed hitters have terrorized Kuhl this season. LHHs are slugging .703 off of Chad Kuhl this season, and own a .486 wOBA. Today’s Phillie lineup (see below) features 6 batters that are either switch hitters or left-handed hitters.

As for Aaron Nola, this will be his 4th start of the season. In the first 3 starts he is averaging 8.44 K/9, 3.38 BB/9, and has allowed just 1 home run in 16 innings of work. The young right-handed pitcher owns a 4.50 ERA, however, his 3.11 FIP indicates he has pitched much better than this. Additionally, his .404 BABIP and 3.67 xFIP both indicate that he is due for better results.

The Pirate lineup today will be as follows:

Adam Frazier – LF
Josh Harrison – 2B
Andrew McCutchen – CF
Josh Bell – 1B
David Freese – 3B
John Jaso – RF
Chris Stewart – C
Gift Ngoepe – SS
Chad Kuhl – P

As for the Phillies:

Cesar Hernandez – 2B
Freddy Galvis – SS
Aaron Altherr – LF
Michael Saunders – RF
Odubel Herrera – CF
Maikel Franco – 3B
Brock Stassi – 1B
Andrew Knapp – C
Aaron Nola – P

Next: Pirates Make A Roster Move

Chad Kuhl’s first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 PM from PNC Park this afternoon. Hopefully, it will be the first pitch of a game that ends in a Pirate victory.