The Pirates lucked out with their pitching draw in New York this weekend, as they don’t have to face Noah Syndergaard or Jacob DeGrom over the next few days. That doesn’t mean that this trip to CitiField is likely to be an easy one; the Mets are 42-18 at home, they’re 10-2 since the trade deadline, and they’re very quickly becoming one of the National League’s best teams. They’re certainly not a club I’d look forward to seeing in a playoff series with the way they’ve played since adding Yoenis Cespedes and Tyler Clippard at the deadline.
This series will be an interesting test for the Pirates; the Mets are obviously on fire and they’re very good at home, but neither Bartolo Colon (tonight’s starter) nor Jon Niese (tomorrow’s starter) are having great seasons. The Pirates will be starting JA Happ, Charlie Morton, and Jeff Locke, though, which is like bizzaro reflection of all of those wonderful early-season series where they could start Cole, Liriano, and Burnett. The offense is going to have to deliver this weekend, for sure.
First pitch tonight is at 7:10.
Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
