If you, like me, were a little concerned with the Pirates’ situation in late May, then it’s likely that the reason that you were concerned was that the Pirates that you envisioned in spring training were much more like the Pirates that are in front of you right now; a buzzsaw capable of stringing a ton of wins together and playing with the National League’s elite over the course of a 162-game season.
The stakes tonight are relatively straight-forward. The Pirates have won seven games in a row, and will send one of the National League’s best pitchers to the mound tonight in the form of Gerrit Cole. The Cardinals have already lost today, so a Pirate win puts them within four games of the Cardinals. That would be closer than they’ve been to the Cardinals at any point since the beginning of the series that we won’t talk about in St. Louis. Jeff Samardzija starts for the White Sox. The Pirates are certainly familiar with Jeff Samardzija, though he hasn’t been quite as sharp this year as he was back in his Cubs’ days.
First pitch tonight is at 8:10. Seven straight wins is nice, but I’d be happier with eight.
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