Pirates at Diamondbacks
Brandon Drury is hotter than lava at Chase Field and looks to continue his torrid hitting when the Arizona Diamondbacks host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday for the third contest of their four-game series. Drury went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer in Friday's 11-4 victory to raise his batting average to a major league-best .454 in 67 home at-bats this season.
Drury, who is hitting .325 overall, is riding a 10-game hitting streak at home and is 8-for-16 with two homers, four doubles and six RBIs through four contests of a nine-game homestand. The Diamondbacks, who registered a season-high 16 hits on Friday, look to extend their winning streak to four games. The Pirates continue to spiral downward as they have dropped a season-high six consecutive contests and 11 of their last 14. Andrew McCutchen is just 1-for-7 in the series and 6-for-48 over his last 13 contests.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN Arizona
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Trevor Williams (1-2, 7.98 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Taijuan Walker (3-2, 3.83)
Williams is making his second start of the season and the third of his career. He had a rough time while starting against the Dodgers on Monday as he was hammered for six runs in the first inning and eight overall (six earned) along with seven hits in three innings. Williams has posted a 7.90 ERA, 1.87 WHIP and .322 batting average against in 27 1/3 career frames.
Walker lost to Colorado in his last turn, when he gave up three runs - one earned - and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. He has worked fewer than six frames in five of his last six outings but has allowed four runs in just one of those starts. Walker never has faced the Pirates but has struggled in his battles against David Freese (4-for-7, two doubles).
WALK-OFFS
1. Pirates C Francisco Cervelli was held out of the lineup Friday due to a knee injury from Tuesday that flared up.
2. Arizona C Chris Iannetta homered in Friday's game and later departed after being hit in the face by a pitch.
3. Pittsburgh activated Freese (right hamstring) and INF/OF Adam Frazier (left hamstring) from the 10-day disabled list and optioned INFs Max Moroff and Chris Bostick to Triple-A Indianapolis.