Game Thread: Lyles starts Game 1 in Texas

The Pirates head into Arlington, Texas, behind starter Jordan Lyles, in an attempt to halt their eight game skid. Lyles will be faced by former Pirates farm hand Adrian Sampson.

Sampson was selected by the Pirates out of Bellevue Community College in the fifth round of the 2012 draft and in his fourth season reached Triple-A before being traded to Seattle at the July deadline straight up for pitcher J.A. Happ. Sampson appeared in one game in 2016 for the Mariners before being waived and claimed by the Rangers prior to the 2017 season, but had that season limited to only eight games due to injury. He returned to the majors in 2018, making four starts for the Rangers, and tonight will be making his third start of 2019, along with four relief appearances. Overall he has a 4.71 ERA in 49 ²⁄₃ major league innings, with 2.4 walks and 5.6 strikeouts per 9 innings.

So far this year, the 6-3, 200 lb right-hander Sampson’s fastball averages 93.3 mph, throwing a sinker 51% of the time, along with a slider (19%) and change (13%)

Lyles will be making his fifth start of the year, trying to recover from an 11-2 loss to Arizona his last time out where he allowed four runs in five innings, after allowing only one run total in his first three starts of the year.

Starling Marte returns to the lineup after a ten day stint on the disabled list that saw the team go 1-8 in his absence. Being in an American League park, the teams are allowed to use a designated hitter, which tonight will be a role filled by Melky Cabrera.

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PIRATES

1 L Adam Frazier 2B

2 R Starling Marte CF

3 L Gregory Polanco RF

4 S Josh Bell 1B

5 S Melky Cabrera DH

6 L Colin Moran 3B

7 R Francisco Cervelli C

8 S Bryan Reynolds LF

9 S Cole Tucker SS

Jordan Lyles RHP

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RANGERS

1 L Shin-soo Choo LF

2 L Rougned Odor 2B

3 R Elvis Andrus SS

4 L Nomar Mazara RF

5 R Hunter Pence DH

6 L Joey Gallo CF

7 S Asdrubal Cabrera SS

8 R Logan Forsythe 1B

9 R Isiah Kiner-Falefa C

Adrian Sampson RHP