Pirates’ wild-card push continues vs. Dodgers
Don’t look now, but there’s another Central Division squad making a strong push for the National League’s second-wild card spot.
While many have looked at St. Louis as Miami’s chief competitor, Pittsburgh is the team that has suddenly closed to within a game of the final playoff berth. The Pirates will look to stay hot and take down the Dodgers today, with a 4:05 p.m. ET first pitch out West. Oddsmakers at online sports book BetDSI prefer the hosts in this spot. Clint Hurdle’s group, on the other hand, enters as a +126 underdog.
Andrew McCutchen’s first homer since July 27 helped the Buccos capture last night’s opener, 5-1, as Los Angeles stayed a game back of San Francisco for the NL West lead. Ivan Nova also threw 5 1/3 effective innings for the visitors, who hope to get a similar performance from ace Gerrit Cole shortly. The UCLA product is undefeated in four career meetings with the Dodgers. Most recently, though, the Reds roughed him up for four runs and three hits.
On the other side, Dave Roberts turns to Brandon McCarthy. In Sunday’s no-decision against Boston, the righty experienced major command issues, walking five and throwing two wild pitches over 3 2/3 frames. Candidly, he’s been awful in four of his seven assignments since returning from a prolonged injury absence.
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Pittsburgh has claimed five of the six contests between the two squads this year, and it’s exceedingly hard to go against Cole when it comes to this area of the country. The former All-Star holds a 13-3 record in 19 lifetime outings vs. the NL West. Get ready to make it 14-3.
SATURDAY MLB FREE PICK: PIRATES +1.5