San Diego Padres vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Pick & Prediction AUGUST 6th 2024
Preview and Prediction
The month of July was a time to remember for San Diego Padres star pitcher Dylan Cease. He will aim to continue his success when he faces the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of a three-game series on Tuesday.
Cease (11-8, 3.42 ERA), who was named the NL Pitcher of the Month for July, had an impressive record of 4-2 with a 2.35 ERA last month. He also held hitters to a .143 average. In his last four starts, he has won all of them, allowing only one run and five hits in a span of 27 2/3 innings. This includes a no-hitter against the Washington Nationals on July 25. The only run he allowed was in his most recent outing on July 31, where he led the Padres to an 8-1 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 28-year-old has a career record of 1-0 with a 2.53 ERA in two starts against Pittsburgh. In his last four starts, he has an impressive 0.33 ERA and has struck out 36 batters.
See also:
"Twins Reinstate All-Star Shortstop Carlos Correa from Injured List"
See also:
"Monarchs Place Right-Handed Pitcher Chris Stratton (Forearm) on 15-Day Injured List"
"Every game we play now is crucial," Cease stated after his win against the Dodgers. "We need to maintain this level of focus, intensity, and effort in every game. We are in a great position right now."
Indeed, the Padres are in a great position.
After a rocky first half of the season with many ups and downs, the Padres have been on fire since the All-Star break. They have won 11 out of their last 14 games and have won five consecutive series, including a recent series win against the Colorado Rockies.
"We have been able to consistently perform well as a team," Padres manager Mike Shildt said. "Our starting pitching has been strong, and we have been able to score runs. These two factors go hand in hand. We have also played clean defense and made smart baserunning decisions. This is a great recipe for consistent success."
As of Monday, the Padres hold the second wild card spot in the NL with a half-game lead. They are also only 4 1/2 games behind the Dodgers for the top spot in the NL West.
On the other hand, the Pirates are looking to bounce back after a tough loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. They blew a 4-0 lead and ended up losing 6-5. This was their third loss in the last four games, leaving them 3 1/2 games behind the final wild card spot in the NL, currently held by the Diamondbacks.
"Our inability to finish was the downfall in the two games we lost in this series," Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. "We were not able to execute pitches with two strikes, and that is something we need to improve on."
See also:
Mets promote infielder Luisangel Acuna to major league roster
See also:
"MLB Recap: Tigers Fall Just Short of No-Hitter"
In the seventh inning, reliever Colin Holderman walked the first two batters and then gave up a three-run homer to Joc Pederson, giving the Diamondbacks the lead.
"It is frustrating when you do not come out with a win," Pirates All-Star outfielder Bryan Reynolds expressed. "It happens. We just have to move on from it. We were in a good position in all of those games. Sometimes things do not go our way. They were able to come out on top twice. We just have to keep moving forward and try to get on a hot streak."
On Tuesday, Bailey Falter (5-7, 3.95) will start for the Pirates. In two appearances (zero starts) against the Padres, the left-hander has a 16.20 ERA, allowing three runs on three hits.
San Diego Padres vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Recap AUG 6TH 2024
Donovan Solano went 4-for-5 with four RBIs to help the San Diego Padres to a 6-0 win against the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series.
San Diego braved a rain delay that lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes to pick up its 12th win in the past 14 games. The Pirates fell for the fourth time in five games following a three-game winning streak.
The Padres did most of their damage in the fifth inning, sending eight batters to the plate. Jackson Merrill doubled with one out, advanced to third on pinch hitter David Peralta's single and scored when Tyler Wade singled to center to make it 1-0.
That marked the end of the day for Pittsburgh reliever Jake Woodford (0-3), who handed the ball off to Kyle Nicolas.
Nicolas promptly hit Jurickson Profar with a curveball to load the bases.
That brought up Solano, who entered the game hitting .480 through 11 career appearances at PNC Park. He knocked a single to left field, scoring Peralta and Wade to put the Pirates up 3-0. Xander Bogaerts followed with another single, bringing in Profar.
In the ninth, Solano pushed the lead to 6-0 when he drove in Wade and Profar with a single.
The Pirates' offense struggled for much of the night, managing just two hits through the first six innings. Pittsburgh finally threatened to score in the seventh, as Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled with one out, Ke'Bryan Hayes smacked a two-out base hit and Ji Hwan Bae drew a walk to load the bases.
However, Tanner Scott then replaced reliever Jason Adam and struck out Jared Triolo to end the inning.
The long rain delay forced both starting pitchers to have short outings. San Diego's Dylan Cease gave up one hit and struck out two in one inning, while the Pirates' Bailey Falter surrendered two hits and fanned one in two innings.
Neither starter yielded a walk or a run.
Padres reliever Bryan Hoeing (2-2) took over for Cease when play resumed, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three in 3 2/3 innings for the win.