In the first of a four game series, the Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road at the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday. The Pittsburgh Pirates are coming off an off day on Wednesday. Before that, the Pirates lost to the Tigers 5-3 blowing a late lead. Pittsburgh leads the National League Central with a 9-3 record on the season.
For Philadelphia, they are coming off a series in St. Louis. The Phillies won two out of three in the series, including the first and last games. The Phillies are 6-6 on the season. Philadelphia is in second place in the National League East.
The Philadelphia Phillies are -150 in this game over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
First Place Pirates
The Pirates are batting .270 as a team. That ranks fifth in all of Major League Baseball. Connor Joe is hitting .324, while Ke’Bryan Hayes is at .313. In 12 games this season, Pittsburgh has clubbed 12 home runs. The leader so far has been Edward Olivares, with three on the season. He hit two in the loss to the Tigers on Tuesday.
Jared Jones is scheduled to get the start for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jones is 1-1 on the season with a 3.86 earned run average. In two starts, Jones has thrown 11.2 innings, and struck out 17 batters. He has allowed just five runs, with two on homeruns.
After this series, the Pirates are slated to head to New York. They will play a three game series at the divisional rival Mets. Following a day off next Thursday, the Pirates will head back home and host the Boston Red Sox.
Slow Starting Phillies
The Phillies got two hits from J.T. Realmuto, and the catcher also scored two runs in the game on Wednesday. Philadelphia got a great outing from their starting pitcher Aaron Nola as well. The Phillies have started slow on the offensive side, with a .235 team average. Brandon Marsh has been the hottest hitter, at .333 on the season.
For the Philadelphia Phillies, they are sending Ranger Suarez to the hill. The 28 year old lefthander has made two starts this season. Suarez has 11 strikeouts in 11 innings so far this season.
The Phillies will remain at home through all of next week. Philadelphia will host the Rockies for a three game series starting on Monday. After taking Thursday off, the Phillies start a three game series at home against the White Sox.
Game One goes to the Phillies
The Phillies picked up a big win on Wednesday, and are glad to be back home. The Pirates are still chewing on their blown save after the day off. Look for the Phillies to get to the young pitcher and use those bats at home early and often.
We like the Phillies to take down the Pirates in the battle of Pennsylvania Game 1. Our final bet for this game is the Philadelphia Phillies -150 over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday!
