PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES: Rallied to beat the Dodgers 9-7 in last night’s last at-bat win…Will look to win back-to-back games on the road for the first time since 5/30-31 at San Francisco…Are 6-2 on the road this year against the National League West…Have had five separate winning streaks of at least four games this season, including a season-high seven-game winning streak from 4/17-23…Are 6-5 in their last 11 games following their season-high 10-game losing streak from 6/13-22.
HOIST THE COLORS: Last night the Pirates won when trailing after eight innings for the third time in the last 11 games… In addition to last night, the Bucs scored three times in the ninth inning to beat the Marlins 3-1 on the road on June 23… Pittsburgh also trailed 7-5 heading to the ninth on June 30 before walking off the Brewers on Carlos Santana’s three-run homer.
COMING THROUGH IN A PINCH: Josh Palacios comes into today with the most pinch hits (five) in the National League and tied for the second-most in all of MLB (Minnesota’s Donovan Solano leads with six)…Palacios’ pinch-hit, two-run double put the Pirates ahead 9-7 in the ninth inning last night.
GOING THE EXTRA MILE: Nick Gonzales recorded the first three-hit game of his career on Tuesday while also knocking in a pair of runs…According to @OptaStats, Gonzales is the first Pirate in the modern era (since 1901) to have at least three doubles, two home runs and one triple within his first career 10 hits.
ELEVATION: Jack Suwinski has hit four of the five farthest home runs by a Pirate this season…Suwinski’s 442-foot blast Tuesday night was the fifth-farthest home run hit by a Pirate this year, while his 461-foot shot on April 17 at Colorado was the longest…Rodolfo Castro has the second-longest homer by a Pirate this year, which traveled 458-feet on April 19 at Colorado.
CALL TO THE PEN: Pittsburgh’s bullpen allowed one run over the last 5.2 innings in last night’s win…Since June 23, Pittsburgh’s bullpen has recorded a 2.06 ERA (39.1ip/9er)…That’s the second-lowest ERA in MLB behind the Phillies (31.2ip/2er – 0.57 ERA).
ON THE MEND: Jose Hernandez started and worked 0.2 scoreless inning (0h/1bb/2so) in his first rehab appearance Tuesday with Indianapolis…Ji Man Choi went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI while serving as the designated hitter with Indianapolis yesterday…Since having his rehab assignment transferred from Altoona to Indianapolis, Choi is 8-for-20 with a triple, three home runs and nine RBI in five games.
BREAKING OUT THE BATS: Since June 27, the Pirates have scored 51 runs, which are tied for the third-most in MLB along with the Rangers…Only the Astros (54) and Dodgers (53) have scored more runs in that time.
L.A. TIMES: The Pirates are 8-3 against the Dodgers since the beginning of last year…Pittsburgh has gone 4-1 here at Dodger Stadium since the beginning of last year…Prior to last year, the Pirates lost 12 straight games at Dodger Stadium from 2017-21.
CUTCH: Andrew McCutchen is three home runs away from 300 in his career (his 297 are the 11th-most among active players)…McCutchen ranks fourth all-time in Pirates history with 213 home runs, trailing only Willie Stargell (475), Ralph Kiner (301) and Roberto Clemente (240).
STARTING PITCHER – 70 – RHP OSVALDO BIDO
OSVALDO BIDO: The 27-year-old righthander will make his fifth big league start tonight…He allowed four runs in 3.1 innings and had a no-decision in his last start; an 8-7 walkoff win Friday vs. Milwaukee…He went 3-4 with a 4.55 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts) this season at Indianapolis…Was signed by the Pirates as a non-drafted free agent on 3/15/17.
VS. LOS ANGELES (NL): Has never faced the Dodgers.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
CLOSE STRONG: The Dodgers dropped a heartbreaker last night to the Pirates, giving up three runs in the ninth and losing, 9-7. The loss snapped the club’s eight-game winning streak on July 4th and dropped their home record to 25-16 (.610). This evening, the Boys in Blue continue the final homestand of the first half (1-1) with the third contest of a four-game set with Pittsburgh. The Dodgers are 2-3 vs. the Pirates this season and need wins in the final two games in order to take the season series. Following the series with Pittsburgh that wraps up tomorrow night, the Angels come to town for two games (July 7-8), prior to the All-Star break, which begins on Sunday, July 9. The Dodgers are in second place in the National League West, 2.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. Los Angeles dropped a series to Pittsburgh in April, losing two of three at PNC Park and with last loss are now 3-8 in their last 11 games against the Pirates since the start of 2022. The Dodgers are 195- 123 (.613) vs. the Pirates all time at Dodger Stadium. Tonight is Luau Night at Dodger Stadium and fans that purchased tickets through the special ticket pack will receive a Luau Night Dodger jersey while all in attendance can enjoy a pregame performance by the dance group, Nonosina. In addition, Mexican superstar singer, rapper and musician Peso Pluma will be at the stadium tonight to throw a ceremonial first pitch and say ‘It’s Time for Dodger Baseball.”
WALKED THE PLANK: The Dodgers snapped a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning on Jonny Deluca’s first-career home run, a pinch-hit blast that sent Dodger Stadium into 4th of July pandemonium. However, the lead was short lived as the Pirates plated three in the ninth off of Evan Phillips, snapping his 10.1 IP scoreless streak in the process and taking the 9-7 victory. At the plate, James Outman went 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI, snapping a 48-game homer drought (May 17). He now has 11 homers on the season and three multi-homer games. Jason Heyward and Mookie Betts also collected two hits apiece, with Betts cracking his 23rd longball of the campaign. David Peralta went 0-for-3 and saw his nine-game hitting streak snapped. He’s still hitting .394 (13- for-33) in his last 10 games after slashing .365/.406/.556 in the month of June.
BIG BAT BETTS: Dodger All-Star starter Mookie Betts went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a walk and his 23rd home run of the year last night. He has hit 12 home runs since May 30, which ties him with Ozzie Albies for the most in the National League during that time. On Sunday, Betts reached 20 doubles in a season for the eighth time in his career, with the only exceptions being his rookie season (52 games) and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign (55 games). The outfielder is among the National League leaders in homers (23, 3rd), RBI (57, 4th), OBP (.377, t-11th), SLG (.560, 4th), OPS (.937, 2ND), walks (52, 6th), extra base hits (44, 3rd), total bases (177, 4th) and runs (66, T-2nd). Betts ranks third in the National League, hitting .365 (23-for-63) with runners in scoring position. He trails just Luis Arraez (.460) and Joey Meneses (.415). Freddie Freeman ranks sixth with a .343 mark (24-for-70).
STEADY FREDDIE: Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman went 1-for-5 last night and he is tied with Matt Olson and Mookie Betts for third in the Major Leagues in runs scored (66), behind Marcus Semien (68) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (78). Freeman leads the Major Leagues with 28 doubles, is sixth with 43 extra-base hits, fifth in batting average (.313) and sixth in total bases (178). On June 25, he became just the 98th player in Major League Baseball history to record 2,000 hits with 300+ homers.
PROVIDING THE POP: The Dodger offense continues to be at the top of the National League in various categories, as they rank second in walks (348), runs per game (5.44), extra-base hits (301), home runs (135), slugging percentage (.446) and OPS (.774).
TONIGHT’S STARTER vs. PIRATES: RHP BOBBY MILLER (4-1, 4.23 ERA in 7 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:
- The big right-hander picked up his fourth win of the year on June 30 against the Royals, firing 5.2 innings, giving up five hits, three runs and one walk while striking out four
- Had the longest scoreless innings streak for the club this season with 20 consecutive innings (May 29-June 17)…it was snapped on the 17th against the Giants
- Became the first Dodger pitcher since at least 1901 with a 6.0+ IP scoreless start allowing one hit or fewer within his first three
appearances (ESPN Stats) - First Dodgers rookie starting pitcher to earn the win in his first two career starts since Jose De Leon (9/04/16 vs. SD and 9/12/16 at NYY)
- Illinois native picked up the win in his Major League debut against Atlanta May 23 after spinning five innings and giving up four hits, one run and one walk while striking out five
- Owns a 1-1 record across four starts with Triple-A Oklahoma City with a 5.65 ERA (9 ER/14.1 IP) with 12 strikeouts and just 6 issued walks…has limited the opposition to a .212/.295/.385 slashline
- Was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training…did not appear
VS. PIRATES:
- Will face Pittsburgh for the first time in his career
