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Pirates at Rockies - 6/29/2021

The Pirates will attempt to even up this series.

By Nathan J. Hursh
MLB: Pittsburgh Pirates at Washington Nationals Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Pittsburgh Pirates (29-48) at Colorado Rockies (32-47), June 29, 2021, 8:40 p.m. EST

Location: Coors Field, Denver, CO

TV: AT&T Sports Pittsburgh

Radio: 93.7 The Fan

Rockies SB Nation Site: Purple Row

Starting Pitchers

Pirates: Chase De Jong (0-2, 4.94 ERA)

Rockies: German Marquez (6-6, 3.99 ERA)

Probable Starting Lineups (subject to last-minute change)

Pirates

  1. Adam Frazier (2B)
  2. Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B)
  3. Ben Gamel (CF)
  4. Gregory Polanco (RF)
  5. Jacob Stallings (C)
  6. Phillip Evans (1B)
  7. Kevin Newman (SS)
  8. Ka’ai Tom (LF)
  9. Chase De Jong (P)

Rockies

  1. Raimel Tapia (LF)
  2. Yonathan Daza (CF)
  3. Charlie Blackmon (RF)
  4. Trevor Story (SS)
  5. Ryan McMahon (3B)
  6. Garrett Hampson (2B)
  7. Joshua Fuentes (1B)
  8. Elias Diaz (C)
  9. German Marquez (P)

One day after getting shutout at Coors Field for the fifth time ever, the Pirates look to even up this series in game two. The problem is that tonight’s lineup is arguably worse than yesterday’s. And against a better starting pitcher too. Adam Frazier is back in the lineup after a day off. That is good. Ben Gamel is hitting third and playing centerfield in place of Bryan Reynolds who is getting the night off. Not so good. Colin Moran is out of the lineup as well after getting plunked on the hand yesterday. Also not good. Of the eight position players starting in this game, only two have an OPS of at least .700. Those would be the first two hitters in this lineup. The league average is .714. Runs may be hard to come by in this game, even at the offense-heavy Coors.

For the Pirates, Chase De Jong gets the start. In his last outing, the 27-year-old righty was touched up a bit in a loss against a solid White Sox club. In that game, he went 4.2 innings while allowing four earned runs on seven hits including a homer. Last month, De Jong made his first start of the season against the Rockies at PNC Park. This was his best start of the season as he went five strong innings while allowing just one run. Beware though, the Rockies are a completely different team at home (26-16) than they are on the road (6-31).

For Colorado, German Marquez will take the hill. Marquez has been dominant in his last two starts allowing just one run over 14 innings pitched. Tonight, he will face the Pirates for the first time this season.

Lastly, LHP Sam Howard was reinstated from the injured list as LHP Austin Davis was optioned down to AAA.

Let’s get the bats going in this one. Go Bucs.

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