Pirates at Phillies
The Pittsburgh Pirates have benefited from a pair of strong starting pitching performances to post consecutive victories on the heels of a four-game losing skid. The Pirates will bid to improve their season mark to 5-2 against the host Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday when they turn to Chad Kuhl for the finale of a four-game set.
Jameson Taillon struck out a career-best nine in five innings in Tuesday's 3-0 triumph and Gerrit Cole fanned eight in six frames the following day while also adding a two-run single in a 5-2 victory. Jordy Mercer drove in his fourth run in six games with an RBI triple to highlight his two-hit performance on Wednesday, but is 0-for-6 in his career versus Thursday starter Jeremy Hellickson. While Pittsburgh has dominated its Keystone State rival to the tune of 27-14 since 2012, Philadelphia's Maikel Franco has fared pretty well against the Pirates this season by going 7-for-24 with two homers, four RBIs and five runs scored. Tommy Joseph collected his first career triple on Wednesday, but is just 2-for-20 in nine games versus Pittsburgh this season.
TV: 6:05 p.m. ET, ROOT Pittsburgh, CSN Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Chad Kuhl (2-6, 5.26 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jeremy Hellickson (5-5, 4.48)
Kuhl carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning against San Francisco on Saturday and finished the frame having allowed a solo homer to Austin Slater to record his first quality start since April 18. "He knows what the situation is," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of the 24-year-old. "He wants to pitch deeper into games. He put himself in a situation to do that (in his last start)." Unfortunately for Kuhl, the end result of his strong performance was a no-decision - just like his sterling effort versus Philadelphia on May 21 in which he permitted just one hit and struck out five over five scoreless innings.
Hellickson saw his winless stretch extend to eight starts after receiving his third straight no-decision in Saturday's tilt versus the New York Mets. The 30-year-old surrendered two homers and four runs total over 6 1/3 innings in that contest, but there's reason for optimism on Thursday. Hellickson's last victory came at the expense of Pittsburgh on May 19 as he yielded two runs on as many hits in six innings of a 7-2 triumph.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia CF Odubel Herrera is 5-for-11 in the series after going hitless with six strikeouts in his previous four games.
2. Pittsburgh 2B Josh Harrison is 1-for-19 in his last five games.
3. Phillies LF Daniel Nava has recorded two three-hit performances in July.