LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S STARTER at PIRATES: RHP NOAH SYNDERGAARD (0-3, 4.91 ERA in 4 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:
• Made his season debut April 2 and tossed 6.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits in a no decision…he is 0-3 on the season with a 4.91 ERA with 19 strikeouts
• Has tossed 6.0 innings in three of his four starts…struck out a season-high nine batters on April 14 vs. the Cubs
• Pitched in five games (four starts) during spring ball, going 1-3 with a 5.79 ERA (12 ER/18.2 IP) with 13 strikeouts against just two walks…held a 1.13 WHIP
VS. PIRATES:
• Owns a 2-2 career record against the Buccos, producing a 2.73 ERA (10 ER/33.0 IP) with a 1.03 WHIP….has struck out 29 batters and walked just four in five starts against the club
• First time pitching at PNC Park since Aug. 4, 2019, where he secured the win after 7.0 innings of one-run ball, allowing just three hits with three strikeouts and one walk
PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES:..Had the day off yesterday…Have won a season-high seven straight games and eight of their last nine contests…Have not lost back-to-back games since dropping the final two contests of their season-opening series in Cincinnati…Their 16-7 record is their best start since the 1992 team also began the year with a 16-7 record.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS: Pittsburgh returns to action tonight with the best record (16-7) in the National League and the second-best in all of MLB behind the Tampa Bay Rays (20-3)…Since losing each of the final two games of their season-opening series at Cincinnati, the Pirates have gone 15-5…Pittsburgh has outscored its opponents by 43 runs (73-30) in the last 20 games.
RAISE IT: The Pirates enter today with a season-high seven-game winning streak (tied for the longest active win streak in MLB along with the Orioles), which is the longest for the Bucs since racking up 11 straight victories from July 11-24, 2018… The Pirates have outscored their opponents 45-15 during their current seven-game winning streak.
BUCCO BLANKINGS: Pittsburgh extended its winning streak to seven games on Sunday after shutting out the Reds 2-0 to complete a four-game sweep…Pittsburgh has now recorded three shutouts in 2023, which are tied for the third-most in the National League behind Milwaukee and Arizona (four apiece)…The Pirates had a total of six shutouts in 2022, with the third one coming on July 23 vs. Miami.
START ME UP: Since April 11, Pittsburgh’s starting rotation has the lowest ERA (2.15) in all of MLB…During that time Pittsburgh’s starting rotation has also posted the most strikeouts (82), innings pitched (79.2), wins (eight) and sixth-lowest batting average against (.218) in all of MLB.
THE EMERGENCE OF JOHAN: Johan Oviedo gets the start tonight in the opener of this three-game series…Oviedo ranks eighth among all National League pitchers with a 2.22 ERA…Beginning with his outing on April 9, the 25-year-old righthander has also recorded the sixth-lowest ERA (0.92) in MLB (Min. 13.1ip) behind Arizona’s Zac Gallen (0.00), Detroit’s Eduardo Rodriguez (0.43), Minnesota’s Sonny Gray (0.53), Shohei Ohtani (0.56) of the Angels and Gerrit Cole (0.83) of the New York Yankees.
PEN POWER: Pittsburgh’s bullpen has recorded a Major League-leading 12 saves (the Blue Jays are second with ten)… Individually, David Bednar’s eight saves are tied for the most in MLB along with Toronto’s Jordan Romano and San Diego’s Josh Hader…The Pirates bullpen has also surrendered just three home runs this season, which are the fewest in MLB.
THE RENEGADE: David Bednar comes into today tied for the Major League lead in saves with eight…The club record for most saves in March/April is 10 – shared by Mike Williams (2002) and Jason Grilli (2013).
JACK IN THE BOX: Jack Suwinski is hitting .344 (11-for-32) with three doubles, five home runs and 10 RBI in his last 11 games…He enters today with the fourth-highest slugging percentage (.638) as an outfielder in MLB behind Brandon Marsh (.754), James Outman (.712) and Jarred Kelenic (.676).
THIS MAGGI MOMENT: On Sunday the Pirates selected the contract of infielder Drew Maggi from Double-A Altoona…The Pirates originally selected Drew Maggi in the 15th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft…The 33-year-old Maggi has played in more than 1100 games in his minor league career but has never appeared in a big league game…Maggi did have his contract selected by Minnesota on September 18, 2021, but did not appear in a game before being optioned back to Triple-A on September 20.
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #24 RHP JOHAN OVIEDO
JOHAN OVIEDO: The 25-year-old righthander is making his fifth start tonight…He allowed one run in 6.0 innings while winning a 14-3 decision in his last start Wednesday at Colorado.
vs. LOS ANGELES: 1-0 in one career appearance…He allowed one run in 1.1 innings of relief and earned the win while pitching for the Cardinals on 7/12/22.
