Series: Pirates vs. Reds; PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
TV, radio: Root Sports (Fri/Sun) & FOX (Sat), WPGB-FM (104.7).
Facts/Reaction: The Pirates enter their weekend series with the Reds after winning 2 of 3 games against NL Central rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. This series victory comes off the heels of a series sweep at the hands of the NL Central leading Brewers. The Pirates have won 2 of the last 3 series after losing 10 straight games. The team also now has won more games this year (58) than all of last year (57). The Pirates are now entering a stretch where they will play 20 of their next 21 games against NL Central rivals, with the lone out of division game coming in the form of a rain makeup game on September 1st against the Dodgers.
Pitching Probables:
Friday, August 19 - Kevin Correia (12-11, 4.62 ERA) vs. Homer Bailey (7-5, 4.43 ERA)
Saturday, August 20 - Charlie Morton (9-6, 3.43 ERA) vs. Dontrelle Willis (0-3, 4.08 ERA)
Sunday, August 21 - James McDonald (8-6, 4.20 ERA) vs. TBA (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Stats and Matchup: The Pirates enter this weekend's series 13.5 GB in the Central and 1.5 games behind the 3rd place Reds. The Pirates took 2 of 3 from the Reds in the series played at PNC Park in a series that had the Pirates 7 games above .500 and in 1st place. How fast and far the Buccos have fallen since then. However, the Pirates are 7-2 against the Reds this season and have won every series that they have played against them.
Friday - The Pirates will face Homer Bailey for the first time this season. Bailey has been good as of late, going 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA in his last 3 starts. Jones, Doumit and McCutchen have averages over .300 in their career against Bailey. Opposing Bailey is Kevin Correia who is 0-3 in his last 3 starts but pitched 7 innings while only giving up 1 run in a 1-0 loss to the Brewers last Saturday.
Saturday - Charlie Morton looks to put together his 4th good start in a row. Morton is 1-0, with a 0.40 ERA and 16 strikeouts in his past 3 starts. How crazy is it that after last season where Charlie was 2-12 with a 7.57 ERA, he is going for his 10th win of the year and has an ERA under 3.50. All I can say is, unbelievable.
Sunday - James McDonald against who knows since the Reds haven't announced it year. Up in the rotation would be Mike Leake, who the Pirates have already beaten this year. So whether it is him or someone else, we will see.
Prediction: Pirates win 2 of 3 in front of huge home crowds. Charlie wins his 10th game of the year and the Pirates go to 9-3 on the season against their NL Central division rivals.
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