PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES:…Have won back-to-back games for the first time this season…Dropped each of the final two games of their season-opening series against the Reds
at Great American Ball Park…Opened their 137th season as a member of the National League with a 5-4 win against the Reds Thursday afternoon.
RED-HOT REYNOLDS: Bryan Reynolds has gone deep in three straight games, homering four times total in that span… Prior to Reynolds, the last Pirate to homer in three straight games was Josh Bell from August 11-13, 2019…Corey Dickerson was the last Pirate to homer in four straight games when he did so from July 15-22, 2018.
CHEERS: Bryan Reynolds has gone deep in four straight games (six homers total) against the Red Sox dating back to August 17, 2022…That’s tied for the longest streak all-time by a National League player vs. Boston (also Andres Galarraga from June 10, 1998, to July 7, 2000)…The last player to do it against the Red Sox, regardless of league, was Omar Narvaez, who did so in five straight games from March 29, 2019, to July 30, 2022.
FOUR YOUR INFORMATION: Bryan Reynolds has hit four homers in the first five games of this season…That’s tied with Reggie Sanders in 2003 and Willie Stargell in 1971 for the most in team history through the first five games of a season.
A MONSTER HOMER: Last night Ji Hwan Bae joined Atlanta’s Vaughn Grissom on August 10, 2022, as the only National League players all-time to hit their first career home run at Fenway Park (the ballpark opened in 1912)…Bae is hitting .320 (8-for-25) with a double, homer and four RBI in his last seven games dating back to October 2, 2022.
CHANGING SOX: Today the Pirates will wrap up their season-opening six-game road trip against the Reds and Red Sox… Friday afternoon the Pirates will open the home portion of their 2023 schedule against the White Sox with first pitch set for 4:12…It will be the third time the Pirates face an American League team in the club’s Home Opener (also 2015 against the Tigers and 2018 against the Twins).
ON THE MOUND TODAY: Mitch Keller will make his second start today after having a no-decision (4.2ip/4er) on Opening Day Thursday afternoon in Cincinnati…Keller struck eight Reds on Opening Day, which were the most since he fanned a career-high 10 batters on August 30, 2022, against the Brewers.
BULLISH PEN: Pittsburgh’s bullpen has recorded a 1.96 ERA (18.1ip/4er) and .206 batting average against in the first five games of the season…Pirates relievers have also allowed just one of eight inherited runners to score.
PIRATING: The Pirates are 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts this season…Pittsburgh is one of three teams in MLB with at least five stolen bases and no caught stealings so far this year…The other two teams with at least five stolen bases and no caught stealings are the Orioles (11-for-11) and White Sox (5-for-5).
THE RENEGADE: David Bednar recorded his third save in the team’s fifth game of the season Tuesday night…Prior to Bednar, the last Pirate to record three saves within the team’s first five games of a season was Joel Hanrahan in 2011.
BATMAN RETURNS: A.J. Burnett will throw out the ceremonial first pitch during Friday’s pre-game festivities to former battery-mate Russell artin…Burnett was a member of Pittsburgh’s playoff teams in both 2013 and 2015 while going 35-28 with a 3.34 ERA in 87 starts as a Pirate from 2012-13 and 2015…Martin hit one of the most memorable home runs in Pirates history, taking Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto deep in the 2013 Wild Card Game that helped lift the Pirates to a win and advance to the Division Series.
ADDITIONAL FRIDAY PREGAME INFO: Donnie Iris will perform the National Anthem on Friday…Governor Josh Shapiro will throw out an honorary first pitch…Season ticket holders will unfurl an American flag…The Pirates will also recognize Pittsburgh fallen police officers.
CHECKING THE BROOM CLOSET: The Pirates will attempt to sweep their first series of the season today (the Bucs had four sweeps last year)…Pittsburgh’s last sweep on the road came last year in a four-game series at Cincinnati from September 12-14…Pittsburgh’s last three-game sweep on the road against an American League team came in Detroit from March 30 to April 1, 2018.
DAURI DEALING: Dauri Moreta stranded each of his two inherited runners Tuesday while also tossing a scoreless inning… Moreta is tied for the second-most inherited runners in all of MLB with Michael Rucker of the Cubs…Houston’s Phil Maton leads all of MLB with six inherited runners…Dating back to his outing on July 10 of last year while pitching for the Reds, Moreta has posted a 1.02 ERA (17.2ip/2er), 19 strikeouts, .138 batting average against and 0.85 WHIP.
23 – RHP MITCH KELLER
MITCH KELLER: The 27-year-old righthander will make his second start of the season this afternoon…Came away with a no-decision (4.2ip/4er) on Opening Day in Cincinnati in Pittsburgh’s 5-4 win.
vs. BOSTON:0-1 in one career start…Allowed five runs (4er) in 2.0 innings while losing a 5-3 decision against Nick Pivetta last year at PNC Park on 8/16…Has gone 1-6 with a 4.55 ERA (57.1ip/29er) in 12 career starts during interleague play…Went 0-3 with a 4.68 ERA (25.0ip/13er) in five starts last season against the American League.
BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:
STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox have lost back-toback games vs. PIT after winning consecutive games on
Saturday and Sunday vs. BAL.
The Sox scored a run in the 1st inning last night and
were held scoreless through the final 8 innings.
Beginning with the 2nd inning on Monday vs. PIT,
the Sox been held scoreless in 15 of their last 17
offensive innings (2 total runs) after scoring in 9 of
their previous 12 turns to bat (18 total runs).
ROAD TRIPPING: Today’s game concludes the Red Sox’ season-opening, 6-game homestand against BAL (2-1) and PIT (0-2). The Red Sox tomorrow will begin a 7-game road trip to DET (3 games) and TB (4 games). Tomorrow will be the Tigers’ home opener, with a scheduled off day on Friday…After Friday, the Sox will play 19 games in 19 days, through 4/26.
LEADERS OF THE PACK: The Red Sox rank 2nd in the AL and 3rd in MLB in runs scored (34). The Sox also rank in the AL’s top 5 in various offensive categories (see below).
RED SOX OFFENSIVE RANKINGS
Stat AL Rank
34 runs……………………….. 2nd
50 hits………………………. T-3rd
20 extra-base hits…………. 5th
8 home runs…………………. 4th
Stat AL Rank
.276 AVG………………………. 4th
.350 OBP………………………. 3rd
.486 SLG ………………………. 3rd
.836 OPS ………………………. 3rd
INNINGS OF INTEREST: The Red Sox have scored in the 1st inning in 4 of their first 5 games of 2023. They have scored 8 runs in the 1st inning, tied with CIN and LAD for most in MLB. The Sox have not allowed a run in the 8th or 9th inning yet this season…The only other teams to do so are PIT and TEX. They have outscored opponents in the 8th and 9th innings, 8-0.
HOT START: The Red Sox have scored 34 runs, their most through a season’s first 5 games since 2003 (42 runs).
The Red Sox were held to 1 run and 4 hits last night, after scoring 6+ runs and recording 10+ hits in each of their first 4 games of the season. This Sox recorded at least 6 runs in 10 hits in each of their first 4 games of a season for the 4th time in club history (also 2016, 1985, 1950).
WHAT A RELIEF: Dating back to the 7th inning on Opening Day vs. BAL, 18 of the 21 innings started by Red Sox relievers have been scoreless. 5 of the 8 relief pitchers the Red Sox have used this season have allowed 1 or 0 earned runs (see below).
RED SOX RELIEVERS TO ALLOW 1 OR 0 RUNS
Pitcher IP R
Chris Martin 3.0 0
John Schreiber 2.0 0
Kenley Jansen 1.0 0
Josh Winckowski 6.0 1
Zack Kelly 3.2 1
CLOSE SHAVES: 3 of the Red Sox’ first 5 games have been decided by just 1 run, including 2 of their 3 losses (1-2 record). Prior to this year, the last time the Red Sox lost by 1 run in each of their first 2 losses in a season was 2001. Since 1995, the only other seasons in which 3 of
the Sox’ first 5 games were decided by 1 run were 2018 and 2014. The Sox are 1 of 4 teams in MLB to play 3 games decided by 1 run this season (also ARI, CLE, OAK).
SOX & BUCS: The Pirates are visiting Fenway Park for the 1st time since April 2017 (3-game Red Sox sweep). This is the 1st series the Red Sox have ever lost to the Pirates at Fenway Park (2-1-0 series record). PIT’s only other series victory at the venue was a 3-game series win over the Boston Braves in May 1915 (5/15-19).
ON THE MEND: James Paxton threw 49 pitches over 3.0 innings in an intrasquad game yesterday at the Fenway South Player Development Complex.
Brayan Bello is scheduled to pitch in an intrasquad game at Fenway South today. Garrett Whitlock made a rehab start for Triple-A Worcester on 3/31 (4.0 IP, 6 H, R, BB, 6 SO)…He is scheduled to pitch for Double-A Portland tomorrow.
DUV-ALL ABOUT IT: Adam Duvall on Monday was named AL Player of the Week for 3/31-4/2, after recording 6 extra-base hits and 8 RBI in his first 3 games with BOS. He recorded another RBI on Monday, becoming the 4th player in Sox history to record 9 RBI over the Sox’ first 4 games of the season…He joined Vern Stephens (1950), Ted Williams (1942), and Bobby Doerr (1941). Duvall leads qualified AL players in runs scored (7), RBI (tied, 9), extra-base hits (tied, 6), total bases (21), SLG (1.000) and OPS (1.542)…He ranks among the AL’s top 3 in AVG (2nd, .476), HR (T-3rd, 2) and OBP (3rd, .542),
MACHO MAN: Masataka Yoshida has hit from the 4th spot in the lineup in each of his 5 career games…He is first player since Jack Hoey in 1906 to bat 4th for the Red Sox in each of his first 5 MLB games. Since 1993, the only other players to hit from the 4th spot in the lineup in each of their first 4 MLB games were Kris Bryant (2015) and Justin Morneau (2003).
THE NEW GUYS: Eleven members of the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster or injured list were not in the organization during the 2022 season (see below). 6 players made their first career Opening Day roster: 1B Triston Casas, RHP Zack Kelly, RHP Kaleb Ort, RHP Josh Winckowski, C Connor Wong, and OF Masataka Yoshida.
TEAM OF THE CENTURY: The 2023 season is the 22nd for the Red Sox’ current ownership group (Henry-Werner, 2002-2023)…In the last 22 seasons, the Sox have won more World Series titles (4) than any other team.
TODAY’S STARTER: 28 COREY KLUBER – RHP
Made is 6th Opening Day start last Thursday vs. BAL…Allowed 5 R over 3.1 IP (6 H, 4 BB, 4 SO, 2 HR)…Issued 4 walks for only the 12th time in 257 career games (252 starts). Is 16-9 with a 3.04 ERA (67 ER/198.2 IP) in 32 career Interleague starts. His 3.04 ERA ranks 9th all-time in Interleague play (min. 30 starts). Is 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA (5 ER/9.1 IP) in 2 career starts vs. PIT. In 2022, walked 3.0% of his batters faced, the lowest rate of his career and best in the majors…Was the lowest single-season BB% by a qualified starter in Rays history. Is a 3-time All-Star (2016-18)…Finished in the top 10 in AL Cy Young Award voting in 5 consecutive seasons from 2014-18 with CLE, winning the award in 2014 and 2017.
