The Pittsburgh Pirates entered Wednesday night as the last undefeated team standing in the National League and will look to continue their hot start on Thursday when they look for another road win against the Washington Nationals.
Pittsburgh Pirates (-130, 8.5) vs. Washington Nationals
Getting the start on the mound for the Nationals is Josiah Gray, who pitched significantly worse at home than on the road last season, posting a 5.49 ERA with 1.7 home runs and 5.8 walks per nine innings compared to road numbers of a 2.97 ERA with one home run and 3.8 walks per nine innings
Gray is backed up by a lineup that ranked 21st in the league in runs per game last season with just over 4.3 runs per game despite ranking 12th overall in batting average last season and sixth in batting average at home with a mark of .264.
The issue Washington had was a lack of offense in 2023, hitting the fewest home runs of any team in the National League. The Nationals addressed that issue in the offseason by acquiring Joey Gallo, Eddie Rosario, and Jesse Winker in the offseason.
While Winker is dealing with an illness and might miss Thursday’s game, Gallo and Rosario both have put together at least one 30+ home run season in their career and will look to find success against Pirates starting pitcher Martin Perez.
Perez comes to Pittsburgh after having spent the past two seasons with the Texas Rangers, posting a 4.45 ERA and 4.99 fielding independent last season with a demotion to the bullpen mid-season.
While Perez is part of a starting pitching rotation that is quite shaky for the Pirates, the offense appears much improved from last season when the team was 28th in home runs and 22nd in runs scored a season ago.
With the Pirates entering Wednesday night averaging a league-best 7.8 runs per game with seemingly all of their young prospects figuratively and literally hitting to their potential, Thursday’s series finale in Washington DC will feature plenty of runs.
The Play: Pirates vs. Nationals Over 8.5 Runs
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