To say that the Pittsburgh Pirates are excited to return home to PNC Park this weekend, might be an understatement.
In a seven game road trip that saw the Pittsburgh Pirates visit the Texas Rangers in Arlington and the Miami Marlins in South Beach, the Pirates went 2-5, losing two of three to the Rangers and three of four to the Marlins. Following the tough road trip that saw the Pirates lose a couple of key starters in the Marlins series finale last night, the Pirates enter a stretch of nine home games in their next ten, with a one day stop in Colorado for a makeup game against the Rockies.
This weekend, the Pirates (29-24) face off against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (24-29), who will be making their first trip to Pittsburgh since 2004, in interleague play. With a rare matchup against the Angels, there are plenty of intriguing matchups that fans will not want to miss out on.
3.) Francisco Liriano vs Albert Pujols
Though the Pirates don’t play the Angels very often, one player in the LAA lineup is very familiar with the Pirates. Former St Louis Cardinals star first baseman Albert Pujols is set to play first base in this weekend series, with the designated hitter not being an option in a National League ball park. In his career against the Pirates, Pujols has had a ton of success, hitting .360 with 49 home runs, 146 RBI’s, 94 walks and 67 strikeouts in 174 games.
Despite his success against the Pirates as a team, Pujols hasn’t quite had the same success against tonight’s probable Pittsburgh starter, Francisco Liriano. In his career against Liriano, Pujols is 1-for-15 (.067) with one double, two RBI’s, two walks and one strikeout.
Pujols, who is in his 16th major league season and fifth with the Angels, has shown that he still has it, even at the age of 36. This season, he is hitting .230 with 11 home runs and 36 RBI’s in 53 games. The batting average may not jump out at you, but the power numbers are still impressive. Pujols, who is a career .310 hitter, hasn’t hit above the .300 mark since his days with the Cardinals when he hit over .300 for 10 of his 11 years in St Louis.
Despite his low batting average, Pujols is still a dangerous threat at the plate and returns to a ball park that he knows and loves. In his career at PNC Park, Pujols is hitting .376 with 29 home runs and 85 RBI’s in 89 games. In fact, Pujols’ 29 home runs at PNC rank as the most home runs he has ever hit at a visiting ball club, excluding Busch Stadium where he played for a majority of his career.
On the other hand, Liriano has had an up and down season, going 4-4 with a 4.63 ERA in 10 starts. In May, Liriano’s April struggles continued, going 2-3 with a 5.34 ERA in five starts. He has also had a ton of trouble with command this season and in his last two starts against Arizona and Texas, walking nine batters in those two appearances.
This particular matchup will be exciting to watch based on Liriano’s past success against Pujols and the fact that the man known as “The Machine” will be taking on a team that he has played particularly well against throughout his career. Make sure you have your popcorn ready for this matchup because it is one that you are not going to want to miss.
2.) Matt Joyce vs Jered Weaver
With Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco experiencing various injury issues in the Miami series, it may not be a surprise to see Matt Joyce get another starting opportunity in the outfield. It would also be fitting to see Joyce, who has been a pleasant surprise for the Bucs this season, get a start against his former team.
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]Pujols, who is in his 16th major league season and fifth with the Angels, has shown that he still has it, even at the age of 36.[/pullquote]This season, Joyce has been nothing short of spectacular, coming up in big situations whether he is starting or getting a pinch hit opportunity. In 68 at-bats this season, Joyce is hitting at a .324/.459/.632 clip with five home runs and 19 RBI’s. Joyce has also drawn 16 walks compared to just 15 strikeouts, having some exceptional at-bats in the process.
Joyce, who hit five home runs and 21 RBI’s in 247 at-bats with the Angels last season, has proven to be the fourth outfielder that the Pirates truly haven’t had in the past few years. Guys like Travis Snider and Jose Tabata have been fourth outfielder options in the past, but Joyce has been incredibly different from those two. He has put up solid numbers, no matter what his role has been, and could provide stellar play, even with the absence of one of the Pirates star outfielders.
Tonight, the Angels send right-hander Jered Weaver to the mound to make only his second career start against the Pirates. Weaver, like Liriano, has struggled this season, going 4-4 with a 5.40 ERA in 10 starts. This season, Weaver has also had trouble giving up the long ball, which has been an issue throughout his career, and with compiling a noticeably lower amount of strikeouts (35 strikeouts in 58.1 innings pitched.)
In his career against Weaver, Joyce hasn’t exactly had a ton of success, going 2-for-16 (.125) with one double, one RBI, three walks and five strikeouts. However, tonight may be an opportunity for that to change. Joyce has four RBI’s in the Pirates last two games against Miami and could bring a hot hand into the Pirates lineup against a struggling pitcher.
1.) Gerrit Cole vs Mike Trout
Gerrit Cole has been featured in a lot of our matchups to watch and readers may be sick of seeing his name, but the matchup between him and Mike Trout will definitely be one to watch as Cole takes the mound in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
Since making his major league debut in 2011, Trout has been one of the most exciting players in baseball. A 2009 first round draft pick, Trout has done it all since entering the league, winning four silver slugger awards, being voted to four consecutive all star games, and even being voted American League Most Valuable Player in 2014 after a season in which he hit .287 with 36 home runs and 111 RBI’s in 157 games.
This season hasn’t been much different for Trout, as he has produced at a steady pace once again, hitting .313 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI’s in 53 games. Trout also ranks third in the American League in OPS (.980), first in On Base Percentage (.416), and second in walks (36).
On the Pirates side of things, Gerrit Cole has been stellar this season; however, his record may not show just how good he has been. This season, Cole is 5-4 with a 2.72 ERA in 10 starts. Opposing hitters have had success against Cole this season, hitting .270 against the Pirates ace.
Despite giving up a total of 29 hits in his last four starts, Cole is 2-1 with a 1.37 ERA in that span.
Cole will be making his second career start against the Angels and the first against the NL West squad since 2013. In his career against Trout, Cole has yet to allow a hit in three at-bats while striking out the former MVP once.
Trout will be making his first trip to Pittsburgh of his major league career this weekend, giving Pirates fans a first hand look at the kind of player that he is. Both Trout and Cole have been two rising stars in the game throughout the last few years, and despite a lack of matchups between the two, they are bound to give fans in the attendance a show in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
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