The Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians will continue their three-game season-ending series on Saturday. The Cleveland Indians entered the series with a 33-24 record and have already clinched a playoff bid. These final games are still important to the Indians, who can still end up as high as the No. 2 seed in the AL playoffs, or as low as the No. 7 seed. The Pittsburgh Pirates are 18-39 and currently have the worst record in baseball. The Indians swept the Pirates in a three-game series in Pittsburgh when these teams met August 18-20, with each win coming by at least two runs or more.
**This preview is for Saturday's game and was made before the Pirates and Indians played on Friday night.**
Pirates win three straight for second-time this season
The Pirates have clinched the worst record in National League, but they have not stopped playing. Pittsburgh picked up a 7-0 win for their third straight victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. Colin Moran, Bryan Reynolds, Adam Frazier, and Josh Bell all homered in the win. Pittsburgh now must play their final three games on the road, where they have a 5-20 record.
On Saturday, Joe Musgrove will hope to get his first win after taking five losses and posting a 4.68 ERA in seven starts this season. In two career starts against Cleveland, Musgrove is 1-1 with an 8.10 ERA. Last Sunday, Musgrove had his best start of the season, tossing six shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out 11 Cardinal's batters, despite the Pirates losing the game 2-1.
The Pirates have the lowest-scoring team in baseball, averaging just 3.5 runs per game, while ranking 29th with 53 home runs, and 28th with a .218 team batting average. Ke' Bryan Hayes, a 23-year old rookie third baseman, has made an impact since making his big league debut Sept. 1, batting .329 with four home runs and nine RBI in just 21 games. Colin Moran leads the team with nine home runs on the year, and Adam Frazier and Josh Bell share the team RBI lead with 21.
Indians sweep White Sox
The Cleveland Indians won their fifth straight game on Thursday with a 5-4 win, completing a four-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox. The Indians are still alive in the race for the AL division crown, two games behind the current No. 2 seeded Twins with three games remaining. If the season ended today, Cleveland would be the No. 7 seed in the postseason and play an entire three-game series on the road, but there is still hope to host a first-round series. The Indians only trail the White Sox by one game for the No. 4 spot. Not long ago, Cleveland seemed to be out of the division race after losing eight straight games from Sept. 8-Sept. 16, but they have won seven out of eight since.
The Indians have been a poor offensive team for most of the year, to have such a good record, currently 27th in scoring, averaging 4.1 runs per game, 23rd in batting average at .228, and 24th with 57 home runs. The Indian's have been able to win despite the offensive limitations due to having the best pitching staff and defense in the American League. The Indians have a 3.20 ERA and have 28 team defensive runs saved this season. Jose Ramirez has also been a one-man wrecking crew for the Indians in Septemeber, batting .375 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI in the month alone. Ramirez leads the team with a .292 AVG, 17 home runs, and 46 RBI.
Aaron Civale, who is 4-5 with a 3.99 ERA, will get the start on Saturday. He faced the Pirates for the only time in his career on August 19 and threw a 109 pitch complete game in 6-1 Indians win.
Notable Trends
- Indians are 3-0 against the runline in their last 3 games against the Pirates.
- Pirates are 0-8 in their last 8 interleague road games.
- Pirates are 0-4 in Musgroves last 4 road starts vs. a team with a winning record.
