PNC Park – The Pirates (53 – 35) again look to end their small losing skid in game two of their series against the Athletics (53 – 37). Gerrit Cole (4 – 1, 3.94 ERA), who suffered his first loss of the season last start, will oppose Dan Straily (5 – 2, 4.52 ERA).
Leading Off
Neil Walker is still experiencing pain in his side (oblique) and is listed as a bench player for tonight’s contest. He will most likely only be used in an emergency situation tonight. He may also see a stint on the DL if his injury doesn’t improve.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On possibly acquiring someone at the trade deadline – “We intend to find a way, every day, to get it better. If we can make a move to get better, then we will explore that. We need to make sure that we are smart with it, but we want to get better in areas that we do believe we need to get better to get to that finish line or push through that finish line.”
On the advances of Pedro’s offensive game – “From a coaching mindset, he’s getting his foot down on time, he’s become more of a bully in the box. What he feels is more important than what I’m seeing.”
“He’s in a very confident position right now and that’s the biggest thing. His confidence level has been good, he’s been able to work through some stretches of swinging and miss. It doesn’t take him to a bad place. He continues to fight through it and respond with good at bats.”
Other Notes
— This is the third time the Pirates have experienced a 2 – 5 stretch. It has happened in each quarter of the season. They still hold the best record in baseball since April 8th with a 52 – 30 record.
— Last season, the Pirates had a 49 – 39 record after 88 games. Even with the small stretch of losing the Pirates are still four games better than this point last season.
— Going into tonight’s contest, Pirate pitching has only given up one homer in the last 100.0 innings at PNC Park.
First pitch is set for 7:05
Follow Travis for Pirates news and in-game updates on Twitter @TBerardi_OVA or @ovathletics
(Photo Credit: Carlos Osorio/AP)
