This is a big series

It’s weird to say something like this, but this week’s three game set against the Orioles is a huge series for the Pirates as it relates to their chances to hang around .500 and contention in the National League this summer. The Orioles are a team much like the Pirates; they have some good young players, but they’re quite not a fully-formed team yet. The idea that this should be an easy series for the Pirates is misguided, though. The O’s are in last place, yes, but they’re 32-37 in baseball’s best division and they’ve had some good stretches this year. If the Pirates play like they did against the Indians this weekend, they’ll be lucky to win a game. 

What the Pirates need tonight is a big start from Charlie Morton. He’s struggled lately, the Bucs have struggled lately, and I thnk it’s pretty clear by now that the Bucs’ success this year is going to tie closely to its rotation. Seeing both Morton and the Pirates break out of slumps in one night in front of a big crowd would be a heck of a nice way to start the week. Morton’s mound opponent is Jake Arrieta, one of the Orioles’ intriguing young arms. He’s 8-4, but he gives up his share of walks (4.34/9 innings) and homers (1.30/9 innings). It seems to me that the Pirates have been able to work counts pretty well lately, even if they haven’t had much to show of it in the way of runs (I’m thinking here of the Josh Collmenter game and their performance against Masterson yesterday; both guys threw a ton of pitches and came out of the game early, but were barely dinged). So today, let’s put runs on the board. 

First pitch tonight is at 7:05.