Pirates at Reds, Kingham v DeSclafani & Notes

Today: First pitch is at 7:10. The game will be carried by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. The forecast is for scattered thunderstorms during the late afternoon/night, so might be another late one.

Pitchers: RHP Nick Kingham (4-4, 4.26) meets RHP Anthony DeSclafani (4-1, 4.43). Nick has been on a roller coaster ride, but by and large has performed in big league fashion with room to improve; his control and swing-and-miss are promising (two walks, nine K/per nine innings), but giving up long balls (10 in 50-2/3 IP) offsets those peripherals. So we'll see how he develops; Nick should have a longer run this time around with Chad Kuhl's injury. He hasn't faced the Reds. DeSclafani has had three rough outings in his last four trips to the mound, and like The King, his strikeout/walk rate is fine but homers bite him (seven in his last 22 IP). He beat Pittsburgh a month ago, giving up two runs on solo shots in 5-2/3 frames.

Riding with The King (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Corey Dickerson LF, Starling Marte CF, Gregory Polanco RF, Elias Diaz C, Colin Moran 3B, Josh Bell 1B, S-Rod 2B, Jordy SS & Kingham P. J-Hay is still down with a sore hammy, so S-Rod will carry on.

Notes:

• The Pirates have won seven straight and 9-of-10 to get their season record back to .500 for the first time since June 18th. It’s the longest winning streak for Pittsburgh since winning seven in a row from June 29th through July 6th, 2016. Pittsburgh’s last eight game winning streak came from September 19-26th, 2015.
• Starling has tied his career best with a 13-game hitting streak going on.
• Corey Dickerson has homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season.
• Max Moroff's hard slide in the ninth inning last night caused some major damage. The recipient, 2B Alex Blandino, was placed on the 10-day DL with a torn ACL in his right knee.
• LHP Enny Romero, recently claimed by KC from the Pirates, was just DFA'ed by the Royals.