The second place Pittsburgh Pirates are in Cincinnati to play the first place Reds. In August. This is what we Pirate fans have been waiting for since at least 1997 and probably since 1992. This is real, meaningful baseball. It’s here.
Wandy Rodriguez gets the ball for the Pirates. Mat Latos gets it for the Reds. Latos is having a pretty strong first season with the Reds, but he’s got a home run problem (20 in 127 1/3 innings). The Pirates hit home runs like pretty much no one else. Rodriguez had a decent but shaky first start with the Pirates, but this is his first start that doesn’t come against his old teammates in Houston. I imagine that the pressure on this one is probably nothing compared to the weirdness of making his first Pirate start against the Astros.
First pitch is 7:10.
