The Pirates and Reds finish up their three-game set with a 12:35 game, which seems a little odd given that both teams have tomorrow off, the Pirates are staying in Pittsburgh, and the Reds are only going to Atlanta. The Pirates are on fire right now and a win today would bring them to 5-1 after the All-Star break and eight games over .500 total.
Today’s pitching matchup is a strange match between Johnn Cueto and Jeff Karstens, both of whom have very low ERAs and very low strikeout totals. Cueto is at least a bit more of a groundballer than Karstens, which helps explain his success a bit. He’s only made one start against the Pirates and it was one of his worst of 2011, lasting just five innings and giving up three runs. He can sometimes have control problems, so the Pirates’ best bet today is probably to take some pitches and try to get ahead in the count, then make him pay for the walks.
As mentioned, first pitch today is at 12:35.
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