Rockies at Pirates
Jameson Taillon makes his return to the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates when they begin a three-game series with the visiting Colorado Rockies on Monday. Taillon was diagnosed with testicular cancer earlier in the year and had surgery May 8 before working his way back.
"Physically, mentally I'm 100 percent. I'm as sharp as I've been all year," Taillon told reporters Saturday. "If anything, I had some time while I was away to work on things that I wanted to get done and sharpen up, so I'm probably in a better spot now than I was before." The Pirates have a little momentum going into Taillon's comeback after winning the final two games of a four-game series with the Miami Marlins over the weekend. Ivan Nova was outstanding through six innings and the bullpen got Pittsburgh to the finish line in a 3-1 win Sunday afternoon. The National League-leading Rockies, who will send impressive rookie Kyle Freeland to the mound, had won seven in a row - their longest run of the year - before falling 7-5 at Wrigley Field on Sunday.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Colorado), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies LH Kyle Freeland (7-3, 3.34 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Jameson Taillon (2-1, 3.31)
Freeland has worked at least six innings in eight of his last nine starts and allowed one run over 6 1/3 in a win over Cleveland his last time out. The 24-year-old is 4-0 with a 3.18 ERA in six road starts, although he has 18 strikeouts against 16 walks in those outings. Freeland surrendered at least one home run in five consecutive appearances after serving up just one in his first seven career starts.
Taillon allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings in his last start before surgery at Cincinnati on May 3. He let up five earned runs in 14 frames during three rehab starts, striking out 21 and walking just three along the way. The 25-year-old, who has never faced Colorado, owns a 3.14 ERA while holding opponents to a .226 average in 13 career starts at home.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen is 7-for-11 with three extra-base hits and two walks over his past three games.
2. Rockies LF Ian Desmond is 9-for-22 over a five-game span.
3. Pittsburgh has won nine of the last 11 meetings with Colorado at home.