PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES:..Opened their road trip with a doubleheader sweep of the Nationals on Saturday…Have won 10 of their last 11 games, outscoring their opponents by 58 runs (88-30) during the stretch…Won seven straight games from 4/17-23, their longest winning streak since 2018 (11 games)…Have not lost back-to-back games since dropping the final two contests of their season-opening series in Cincinnati…Their 20-8 record is their best start since the 1992 team also had a 20-8 record after the first 28 games.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: This is the fastest the Pirates have reached 20 wins since the 1992 team was also 20-8 after 28 games…The only three times the Pirates needed fewer games to reach the 20-win mark in a season came in 1902 (24 games), 1977 (25 games) and 1921 (25 games)…Pittsburgh comes into today first in the National League in runs scored (154) and second in the league in ERA (3.41).
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: Last night the Pirates completed their doubleheader sweep of the Nationals with a 16-1 win… It was Pittsburgh’s largest margin of victory since beating Tampa Bay 18-2 on June 11, 2005, at PNC Park…It was also Pittsburgh’s largest margin of victory on the road since blanking the Cubs 22-0 on September 16, 1975.
CAPTAIN JACK: Jack Suwinski hit his first career grand slam in game two of yesterday’s doubleheader while also recording the fifth three-hit game of his career…Since April 11, Suwinski ranks second in the National League in slugging (.837), OBP (.467) and OPS (1.303), tied for second in RBI (16), tied for fourth in home runs (six) and tied for first in extra base hits (11)…Suwinski enters today with the fourth-longest active on-base streak (17 games) among all National League players (he’s hitting .360 with five doubles, six homers and 17 RBI since it began on April 9).
EXTRA EXTRA: The Pirates banged out a total of 13 extra base hits in yesterday’s doubleheader…Pittsburgh has also recorded at least one extra base hit in each of their 28 games this season, which is the longest active streak in all of MLB (the Cubs and Blue Jays have the second-longest streak at 25 games apiece).
ROAD RULES: The Pirates have won five straight games on the road for the first time since also running off a five-game streak from August 29 to September 9, 2019…A win today would give Pittsburgh its longest road winning streak since taking eight straight from August 14-28, 2016…Pittsburgh has the third-best road record (11-4) in all of MLB, trailing only the Braves (11-2) and Rays (9-3).
CHECKING THE BROOM CLOSET: Today the Pirates will look to sweep their first series ever against the Washington
Nationals (home or road)…Prior to the team moving from Montreal to Washington, DC, Pittsburgh’s last road sweep came
in a two-game series from April 1-2, 1998…The last three-game road sweep of the Expos came from June 28-30, 1991
(the Pirates went 6-0 at Montreal that season).
WELCOME BACK MIGUEL: Miguel Andujar went deep in each of Saturday’s games after being promoted back from Triple-A earlier in the day…Prior to Andujar, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco were the last Pirates to homer in both games of a doubleheader when they did so on July 14, 2018, against the Brewers…Andujar has now collected 15 RBI in his first 11 games as a member of the Pirates…That’s tied for the most RBI in the first 11 games with the Pirates along with Ed Stevens (also 15 games) in 1948 according to @OptaSTATS.
RUN PIRATES RUN: The Pirates enter today with a Major League-leading 39 stolen bases (37 of those have come in the month of April)…Prior to this year, the last time the Pirates had 37 stolen bases in one month was in June of 1987…The Pirates also have a stolen base in six straight games for the first time since 2015 (also six in a row)…The last time the Pirates stole a base in more than six straight games was in 2014 (eight straight from August 5-12).
GETTING ON: Carlos Santana comes into today with a 14-game on-base streak…Since the streak began on April 12, Santana is hitting .333 (18-for-54) with seven doubles, 11 RBI and a .393 on-base percentage…Since April 5, Santana ranks eighth in the National League in batting (.325) and tied for second in doubles (nine).
REYNOLDS ON A ROLL: Bryan Reynolds’ 22 RBI are the fifth-most in March/April in Pirates history…Reynolds has knocked in a run in five straight games, which is the longest active streak in all of MLB (he also knocked in a run in six straight games from April 2-8)…Reynolds and Seattle’s Jarred Kelenic are the only two players in all of MLB to have two separate streaks of driving in a run in at least five straight games this season.
TODAY’S STARTING PTICHER – 24 – RHP JOHAN OVIEDO
JOHAN OVIEDO: The25-year-oldrighthander is making his sixth start today…He was in line for the win (5.1ip/5r/4er) in his last start but had a no-decision in an 8-7lossagainst the Dodgers Tuesday at PNCPark.
vs. WASHINGTON: 0-0 in one relief appearance…Worked1.0scoreless inning on 7/30/22at Nationals Park as a member of the Cardinals.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:
The Nationals and Pirates will face off seven times this season (3 in D.C., 4 in PIT)…Trevor Williams (2016-20) and Chad Kuhl (2016-21) each broke in to the big leagues with Pittsburgh…Anthony Banda and Michael Chavis each spent two seasons (2021-22) with Pittsburgh…Pirates radio broadcaster Matt Capps recorded 26 saves and was a National League All-Star as a member of the Nationals in 2010…Nationals manager of communications, Daniel Kurish and Pirates director of communications, Patrick Kurish are brothers.
AVOID THE SWEEP
The Washington Nationals close out this three-game weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates looking to avoid the sweep on Sunday afternoon…The Nationals continue the homestand on Monday with a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs.
• The Nationals have never been swept by the Pirates.
ROSTER MOVE
The Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Andrés Machado from Triple-A Rochester and designated left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda for assignment on Sunday.
• Machado posted a 2.92 ERA (4 ER/12.1 IP) with two saves, 16 strikeouts and three walks in 10 outings with Triple-A Rochester this season…He allowed just one earned run on seven hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in his last six outings (7.0 IP).
• In his second season with Washington in 2022, Machado went 2-0 with a 3.34 ERA in 51 appearances across five Major League stints…He ranked fourth in the National League with 16.0% inherited runners scored (4-for-25).
QUICK HITS
Some quick notes on Nationals hitters:
• Alex Call is 9-for-23 (.391) with a double, homer, two RBI, four walks, one stolen base and two runs scored in his last six games…He has a .481 on-base percentage over this stretch.
• Joey Meneses leads the Nationals with a .346 average with runners in scoring position…Overall, he is hitting .295/.329/.397 over his last 18 games.
• Thanks to Keibert Ruiz (3rd, 7.4%), Luis García (5th, 8.4%) and Victor Robles (19th, 13.3%), the Nationals have three players in the top 20 in MLB in strikeout rate…The Nationals are one of two teams with more than two players (Boston)…As a team, the Nationals have the lowest strikeout rate in Major League Baseball (18.6%).
BACKSTOP BAT
Keibert Ruiz is 16-for-48 (.333) with two doubles, a home run, five RBI, two walks and three runs scored in his last 12 games…He is 10-for-28 (.357) over his last seven games.
• Ruiz has just one strikeout in his last 12 games and is third in Major League Baseball in strikeout percentage (7.4%).
DEFENSE NOT RESTING
Thanks to strong infield defense so far this season, Nationals opponents have a .231 batting average on ground balls, sixth-best in the National League (MLB avg: .243)…In 2022, the Nationals had the third-highest opponents’ batting average on ground balls in Major League Baseball (.260).
• Washington has turned 28 double plays this season, tied for second in Major League Baseball.
• Third baseman Jeimer Candelario is tied for second among National League third basemen in defensive runs saved (2), according to FanGraphs.com…He trails only Pittsburgh’s Ke’Bryan Hayes (6)
• Slick-fielding first baseman Dominic Smith is one of three National League first baseman to accumulate at least one defensive run saved along with Arizona’s Christian Walker (2) and Pittsburgh’s Carlos Santana (2), per FanGraphs.com.
STARTING PTICHER – #40 JOSIAH GRAY
Right-hander was acquired by the Nationals from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2021 Trade Deadline…Was Los Angeles’ No. 2 prospect entering 2021 and its Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2019…Was originally selected by Cincinnati in the second round (No. 72 overall) of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York…Was acquired by the Dodgers on his 21st birthday, Dec. 21, 2018…Is the Player Ambassador to the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.
LAST START
Earned his first win of the season after he pitched 6.0 shutout innings and struck out nine against the Mets at Citi Field on April 25…Allowed just four hits and a walk.
• Gray’s teammates scored five runs while he was in the game, the first run of support he’d received while he’s been in the game this season.
RECENTCY BIAS
Gray ranks fourth in the National League (8th in MLB) with a 1.59 ERA (4 ER/22.2 IP) in four starts since April 6…He has allowed just one home run in that span and has not allowed a home run in his last two starts.
vs. PITTSBURGH
Faces the Pirates for the second time in his career…He took a no decision after he allowed five runs on three hits and six walks against Pittsburgh on September 11, 2021…Gray struck out four in that contest.
THE STORY OF HIS CUTTER
As told to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post in a recent story: “At the start of spring training, Gray debuted a cutter he learned from Erasmo Ramírez, who drew his grip on a baseball Gray practiced with until he lost it at the gym during the offseason. Gray joked that some Florida teenager could be throwing Ramírez’s cutter in high school games. Yet by the time he misplaced the ball, Gray knew where to put his fingers. The pitch felt like a natural complement to his slider, moving more side-to-side while his gyroscopic slider drops almost straight down.”
