The Pittsburgh Pirates (11-24) take on the Cincinnati Reds (16-21) in a doubleheader on Friday. The Pirates won 6-2 over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. Game one will feature Steven Brault on the mound against right-handed pitcher Luis Castillo. Brault will be making his eighth appearances (seventh start). He has a 4.00 ERA in 18 innings, with 14 strikeouts and a 1.44 WHIP. Castillo will be making his eighth start. He has a 4.10 ERA in 37.1 innings, with 52 strikeouts and a 1.47 WHIP.
There will be a separate Live Game Discussion for game two, posted as soon as the lineups are available.
Here’s an update on Mitch Keller. Unless they are bringing him back at a lower pitch count than normal for a starter, then he’s not even on pace for a return to action. A normal progression would have his final rehab start on September 24th, three days before the season ends. My guess is that they do bring him back with a lower pitch count, so he sees some game action to try to end on a positive note. He only threw 7.2 innings before the oblique injury.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Mitch Keller threw two innings/35 pitches and “looked really good.” Next step in his return from IL is TBD but a good sign for Keller.
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) September 4, 2020
Here are the lineups:
Pirates
Brault on the mound for Game 1.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/G4R5ZWi4PC
— Pirates (@Pirates) September 4, 2020
Reds
#Reds Lineup 09/04/20
1. Joey Votto 1B
2. Nick Castellanos RF
3. Matt Davidson DH
4. Eugenio Suarez 3B
5. Jesse Winker LF
6. Aristides Aquino CF
7. Curt Casali C
8. Jose Garcia SS
9. Kyle Farmer 2BStarting Pitcher : Luis Castillo
— Daily MLB Lineups (@DailyMLBLineup) September 4, 2020
Here are the history links from today. They include the This Date in Pittsburgh Pirates History article, the 1979 Season Recap, and the Game Rewind article, which features a big doubleheader from Hall of Famers Fred Clarke and Honus Wagner 119 years ago today.
Ke’Bryan Hayes gets his third big league start today. We still have his bundle pack on sale for 10% off. We also have Ke’Bryan Hayes baseball cards available in our Cardboard Bucs shop. They’re priced to sell too, all $1-$2 each with quantities available.
The 2020 Prospect Guide returns to print for our tenth anniversary! This year we are releasing three variant covers, featuring Mitch Keller, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Oneil Cruz. Visit our shop page to order these extremely limited items!
