The Pirates are 1-for-1 in this vital road trip of theirs, which means if they can go 2-4 from here on out, it’s going to be hard to think of this as a bad week when it’s all said and done. But from Tuesday, that doesn’t seem nearly good enough, does it? With a win tonight, the Pirates can wipe out that three game losing streak to the Reds and Cardinals from last week and return to a season-best seven games over .500. It would also earn the Pirates another day in first place and every day they’re in first is a good day.
The Pirates send Jeff Karstens to the mound to try and get the win tonight. Presumably the infield will actually be forced to record a groundball out to get him a win tonight, which is something that they very oddly didn’t have to do last night (Pedro Alvarez’s first inning error was the only chance they had). Karstens wasn’t at his best in his last start against the Reds, but he didn’t get much help from his defense, either. The Braves will counter with Tommy Hanson, who’s 9.7 K/9 make him the kind of pitcher that I worry the Pirates will struggle with. It seems pretty likely to me that if the Pirates are going to get their third straight win, it’s going to be in a third straight low-scoring affair.
First pitch tonight is at 7:10.
