For the first time since August 2nd, the Pirates will play a team that’s not currently in line to be a National League playoff team. Actually, since the Pirates are coming off of 11 games against the Cubs, Dodgers, Cardinals, and Mets and have the NL’s current third place Wild Card team (the Giants) scheduled to come to PNC Park this weekend, it feels like having the Diamondbacks sandwiched in here could be a trap series. That being said, it’s a home series for the Bucs, and they’re 39-18 at PNC this year. There aren’t many traps that they fall into when they’re batting last.
Gerrit Cole is the big question for the Pirates tonight, as he hasn’t really pitched all that well in August, and it’s hard to know whether that’s because he’s faced some rough competition (the Gerrit Cole Smashing Reds, the Dodgers, and the Cardinals) or if it’s because he’s wearing down a bit as he approaches the end of his first full big league season. The Pirates obviously take a lot of care in trying to track and handle player fatigue, so I don’t want to go overboard on Cole concern yet, but it’s something worth keeping an eye on. It would certainly be nice to see July Gerrit Cole back on the mound tonight.
He’ll face off against Jeremy Hellickson, who frankly looks like a prime target for a Pirate offense that’s been steamrolling lesser pitchers lately.
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