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Pittsburgh Pirates Prepare To Begin Season Defining Road Trip
By Marty Leap
This road trip may prove to make or break the 2017 Pittsburgh Pirates
Tonight, the Pittsburgh Pirates begin a very important 7 game road trip. This trip comes on the heels of a 10 game homestand that featured some disappointing losses and saw the Pirates go just 5-5.
Despite having a record of just 31-38, the Pittsburgh Pirates begin this road trip still in the thick of things in the National League Central. As they prepare to begin this road trip the Bucs find themselves just 6 games out of first place in the division. Making up a 6 game deficit is very doable when there are still 93 games remaining in the season.
To start the road trip, the Pirates will travel to what has long been their house of horrors. This 7 game road trip will start with a 4 game set at Miller Park in Milwaukee against the Brewers. The Pirates took 2 of 3 from the Brewers at PNC Park in early May in their only other series thus far this season.
As this series begins, the surprising Brewers find themselves in first place in the National League Central with a record of 37-32. With the Brewers being in first place, it goes without saying that this is a big opportunity for the Pirates to make up ground on first place.
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Game 1 is set for 7:40 PM and will feature the pitching matchup of Gerrit Cole and Matt Garza. After four consecutive rough outings, Cole was much more like himself in his last outings when he held the Rockies to 1 run on 3 hits in 7 innings of work.
As for Garza, after a strong start to the season he has been struggling of late. In his past 4 starts, he owns a 6.75 ERA, 4.79 FIP, and a 4.97 xFIP in 20 innings pitched. He has allowed 22 hits and 3 home runs in these starts.
Game 2 on Tuesday night will also start at 7:40 PM and features a pitching matchup of Chad Kuhl and Zach Davies. Things have not gone well for Davies this year who owns a 4.91 ERA, 5.10 FIP, and a 4.72 xFIP in 73 1/3 innings pitched. He has also been troubled by the long ball, having allowed 12 home runs this season.
Trevor Williams will pitch game 3 (8:10 PM PM Wednesday) and Ivan Nova game 4 (2:10 PM on Thursday) for the Pirates. Milwaukee’s starting pitchers for both of these games are still listed a TBA. Williams will look to continue his recent good work (3.88 FIP in 37 2/3 innings pitched his past 7 starts), while Nova will look to continue what is turning into a Cy Young caliber season.
So far this season the Brewer bullpen has been a mess. They rank 13th in the National League in FIP (4.82), 10th in home runs allowed (1.21 HR/9), and their 4.54 BB/9 is the worst in the National League. In fact, their big offseason bullpen addition Neftali Feliz was recently designated for assignment. Getting into the Brewer bullpen will be key in this series.
As always, the key to winning games at Miller Park will be to outslug the Brewers. Miller Park has always been a great hitter’s park, and offense is the reason the Brewers are in first place right now. Milwaukee’s 345 runs scored this season are the fourth most in the National League, and they rank second in the league with 101 home runs.
Following a trip to Miller Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates head to Busch Stadium for a 3 game series with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals swept the only other series between the two teams this season, winning all 3 games by a score of 2-1.
If all holds true in the starting rotation, then Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, and Chad Kuhl will start for the Pirates in St. Louis. Much like the Pirates, the Cardinals have struggled this season. The Red Birds have already made changes to their coaching staff, as well as having designated Jhonny Peralta for assignment. The Cards sit just half a game ahead of the Pirates currently in the division with a record of 31-37. What happens on this road trip may prove to dictate the direction in which the rest of the season heads for the Pittsburgh Pirates. =
St. Louis ranks just 12th in the National League in runs scored (287) and 11th in home runs (73). Matt Carpenter (126 wRC+), Jedd Gyorko (121 wRC+), and Dexter Fowler (114 wRC+) have anchored the Cardinal lineup this season.
One area of strength for the Cardinals this season has been their starting rotation. Red Bird starting pitchers rank fourth in the National League in FIP (4.02), third in home runs allowed (1.10 HR/9), fifth in innings pitched (393 1/3), sixth in strikeouts (8.28 K/9), and seventh in walks issued (3.07 BB/9).
The Cardinal bullpen, however, has not been as successful. Their bullpen ranks ninth in the National League in FIP (4.29), eleventh in home runs allowed (1.26 HR/9), and twelfth in ERA (4.70). Just as it will be in the Brewers series, getting to the Cardinal bullpen will be key for the Pirates.
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What happens on this road trip may prove to dictate the direction in which the rest of the season heads for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
On this trip, the Pirates have an opportunity to move up the National League Central division standings while also closing the gap between themselves and the Milwaukee Brewers. If that happens, the Pirates will be primed to enter the month of July as true contenders in the division. However, if the opposite happens on the trip, then they could begin to prep to be sellers at next month’s trade deadline. That is what makes this road trip a potentially season defining one.