The number of the day is 396.
After another extra inning loss to the Philadelphia Phillies — their sixth loss in a row — the Pittsburgh Pirates fall to 40-61 which is good for a .396 win percentage. The Pirates have now gone 9-16 in the month of July.
Sunday’s starter who looks to end the losing streak is JT Brubaker with a 3.96 ERA.
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Cal Mitchell is in the midst of a promising stretch. In the month of July he is currently slashing .273/.314/.455 which is good for a .769 OPS. In just his last seven games he is slashing .292/.346/.542 for an .888 OPS.
Mitch Keller was able to battle through six innings while only allowing one earned run to the Phillies. With those six innings Keller set a new career season high in innings pitched by one out at 101 IP.
Keller deserved better. You could really say that about every Pirates starter not named Zach Thompson. The starting staff has had a really strong month of July.
ERA’s by Starter in July who’ve made at least three starts:
- JT Brubaker: 3 starts – 2.50 ERA
- Mitch Keller: 5 starts – 2.61 ERA
- Bryse Wilson: 4 starts – 3.27 ERA
- Jose Quintana: 5 starts – 3.67 ERA
- Zach Thompson: 5 starts – 6.33 ERA
Between all five starters they’ve gone a combined 4-9 in the month of July.
The Pirates now find themselves only a half game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds for last place in the NL Central. They’re additionally only one game ahead of the Kansas City Royals for the third worst record in the majors.
There’s only two full business days before the trade deadline on Tuesday at 6pm.
Phillies @ Pirates
Time: 1:35 PM EST
Pirates Starter: JT Brubaker (2-8, 3.96)
Marlins Starter: Aaron Nola (6-8, 3.32)
Brubaker Notes: In JT Brubaker’s June 3rd start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he was only able to complete four innings after giving up five earned runs. Since then Brubaker has thrown 48.1 innings in eight starts while surrendering only 17 earned runs which is good for a 3.17 ERA. In his last start against the Chicago Cubs, he was able to knock his ERA under 4 for the first time all season. This will be his 20th start of the season while having already eclipsed 100 IP on the year, and the second year in a row. Brubaker’s season high in innings pitched of 154 IP came in 2018 while pitching between Altoona and Indianapolis.
LINEUPS:
Pirates
Our Sunday starters.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/iC57FzpyFD
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 31, 2022
Phillies
1. Kyle Schwarber (L) DH
2. Rhys Hoskins (R) 1B
3. Alec Bohm (R) 3B
4. J.T. Realmuto (R) C
5. Nick Castellanos (R) RF
6. Bryson Stott (L) 2B
7. Didi Gregorius (L) SS
8. Matt Vierling (R) LF
9. Odubel Herrera (L) CF
UPDATE: Ke’Bryan Hayes is a late scratch due to left knee discomfort, so forget that first lineup you saw.
Ke’Bryan Hayes was scratched with left knee discomfort.
Updated Lineup:
Newman 2B
Mitchell DH
Reynolds CF
Gamel LF
Madris RF
Cruz SS
VanMeter 3B
Tsutsugo 1B
Heineman C
Brubaker RHP— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 31, 2022
