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Cincinnati Reds Continue Series At Pittsburgh Pirates
FOX Saturday Baseball betting action heads to the Steel City this weekend for a clash at PNC Park between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first pitch between these two NL Central foes is slated for 1:10 p.m. (PT).
It wasn't all that long ago that both the Reds and the Pirates were considered postseason contenders. However, they've each fallen out of the race more than a dozen games backin the NL Central standings with just about a month and a half of the season left to play.
Cincinnati's problems have really come on the road. The team hasn't won a road series since June 27-29 against the Tampa Bay Rays, and hasn't beaten a National League team in a road series since June 13-15 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Since that series win in LA, the Reds are 9-16 as guests.
It's going to be up to the D-Train to get manager Dusty Baker and company into the win column on Saturday, as Dontrelle Willis will be on the bump. Willis has shown some good flashes; but for the most part, he has only been a relatively average pitcher in his seven starts while going 0-3 with a 4.08 ERA.
Getting run support has been a big problem for the southpaw. He hasn't had more than four runs of help from his team yet this year, and the squad is only averaging 2.9 runs per game in his starts.
Willis was knocked around by the San Diego Padres in his most recent outing, allowing six hits, two walks and four runs in just 2 2/3-innings of work. Needless to say, that won't cut it on Saturday against the Bucs.
Pittsburgh had postseason dreams and visions of finishing above .500 for the first time since 1992 this year, but it just doesn't look like either of those are going to happen. The Pirates dropped 10 games in a row beginning near the end of July, and have won just seven of their last 27 contests. Pittsburgh has also dropped eight of their last 10 here at PNC Park.
There are still plenty of things to smile about this year if you're a fan of the boys in yellow and black. One of those men who has really taken some great steps forward is Saturday's pitcher, Charlie Morton.
Morton is 9-6 with a 3.43 ERA on the campaign. Though those numbers aren't exactly Cy Young Award material, they're worlds better than his 2-12 mark and his 7.57 ERA from 2010.
There is still plenty of room for improvement for the young right-hander as well. Morton is walking too many batters, allowing 56 free passes in his 22 outings, and batters are still knocking him around for a .273 batting average.
However, over his last three starts, Morton has a 0.40 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP, proving that he has the goods to do some real damage when he's on his game.
These two teams have already met nine times this year coming into this weekend's series. The Bucs are a stellar 7-2 in those games. Cincinnati has averaged just 1.50 runs per game in the last six games against Pittsburgh.
Potentially rainy weather on Friday could run into Saturday in the Steel City. High temperatures are expected to be in the mid-80s with a 40 percent chance of isolated thunderstorms. Wind shouldn't be a factor, as it is going to be blowing out of the south at just 5-10 mph.
FOX Saturday Baseball betting action heads to the Steel City this weekend for a clash at PNC Park between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first pitch between these two NL Central foes is slated for 1:10 p.m. (PT).
It wasn't all that long ago that both the Reds and the Pirates were considered postseason contenders. However, they've each fallen out of the race more than a dozen games backin the NL Central standings with just about a month and a half of the season left to play.
Cincinnati's problems have really come on the road. The team hasn't won a road series since June 27-29 against the Tampa Bay Rays, and hasn't beaten a National League team in a road series since June 13-15 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Since that series win in LA, the Reds are 9-16 as guests.
It's going to be up to the D-Train to get manager Dusty Baker and company into the win column on Saturday, as Dontrelle Willis will be on the bump. Willis has shown some good flashes; but for the most part, he has only been a relatively average pitcher in his seven starts while going 0-3 with a 4.08 ERA.
Getting run support has been a big problem for the southpaw. He hasn't had more than four runs of help from his team yet this year, and the squad is only averaging 2.9 runs per game in his starts.
Willis was knocked around by the San Diego Padres in his most recent outing, allowing six hits, two walks and four runs in just 2 2/3-innings of work. Needless to say, that won't cut it on Saturday against the Bucs.
Pittsburgh had postseason dreams and visions of finishing above .500 for the first time since 1992 this year, but it just doesn't look like either of those are going to happen. The Pirates dropped 10 games in a row beginning near the end of July, and have won just seven of their last 27 contests. Pittsburgh has also dropped eight of their last 10 here at PNC Park.
There are still plenty of things to smile about this year if you're a fan of the boys in yellow and black. One of those men who has really taken some great steps forward is Saturday's pitcher, Charlie Morton.
Morton is 9-6 with a 3.43 ERA on the campaign. Though those numbers aren't exactly Cy Young Award material, they're worlds better than his 2-12 mark and his 7.57 ERA from 2010.
There is still plenty of room for improvement for the young right-hander as well. Morton is walking too many batters, allowing 56 free passes in his 22 outings, and batters are still knocking him around for a .273 batting average.
However, over his last three starts, Morton has a 0.40 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP, proving that he has the goods to do some real damage when he's on his game.
These two teams have already met nine times this year coming into this weekend's series. The Bucs are a stellar 7-2 in those games. Cincinnati has averaged just 1.50 runs per game in the last six games against Pittsburgh.
Potentially rainy weather on Friday could run into Saturday in the Steel City. High temperatures are expected to be in the mid-80s with a 40 percent chance of isolated thunderstorms. Wind shouldn't be a factor, as it is going to be blowing out of the south at just 5-10 mph.
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