Pirates at Reds
The Pittsburgh Pirates are playing their way out of the race in the National League Central with losses in 10 of the last 13 contests. The Pirates will try to avoid another series loss when they visit the Cincinnati Reds in the second of a three-game series on Saturday.
Pittsburgh began a stretch of 28 straight games against NL Central competition on Friday and entered the key stretch with a dud in a 9-5 loss to the Reds to fall to 61-68. The bright spot for the Pirates was rookie Josh Bell, who belted a three-run homer among four hits. Cincinnati sits in last place in the NL Central but continues to be one of the most entertaining teams in the league with its power arms and power bats, including 24-year-old right-hander Robert Stephenson, who struck out a career-high 11 on Friday. Trying to match that on Saturday will be Reds rookie Luis Castillo, who goes up against Pittsburgh ace Gerrit Cole.
TV: 6:40 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, FSN Ohio (Cincinnati)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Gerrit Cole (10-8, 4.16 ERA) vs. Reds RH Luis Castillo (2-6, 3.45)
Cole stayed in one inning too long against the Dodgers on Monday, when he tossed six scoreless frames before being rocked for five runs in the seventh inning and not factoring in the decision. The former No. 1 overall pick totaled 16 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings over his last two outings but also surrendered nine runs and 13 hits. Cole is still searching for his first career win against Cincinnati and enters Saturday with a 0-6 record and 5.14 ERA in nine starts against the division rivals.
Castillo is winless in his last four outings despite posting three quality starts in that span. The lone outlier came at Atlanta on Sunday, when the rookie from the Dominican Republic struck out eight and yielded two runs but lasted only four innings. Castillo is facing Pittsburgh for the first time in his career and is 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts at home.
WALK-OFFS
The Reds placed OF Jesse Winkler (hip) on the 10-day DL on Friday.
2. Pittsburgh C Francisco Cervelli (left quad) left Friday’s game and is day-to-day.
3. Cincinnati LF Adam Duvall homered on Friday to reach 30 for the second straight season.