The Pittsburgh Pirates will send another rookie pitcher to the mound Saturday night as they look to take two games in a row from the visiting Colorado Rockies.
Right-hander Mike Burrows (1-4, 4.46 ERA) will start as the Pirates seek their fourth victory in five games and try to secure a winning record for their six-game homestand.
Burrows has not won since June 4, and Pittsburgh has fallen in the 25-year-old’s last three starts. However, he’s coming off a five-inning performance last Saturday in Chicago, where he allowed a run on five hits and two walks while striking out four.
While he did not get a decision in a 3-1 victory by the Cubs, Burrows impressed Pirates interim manager Don Kelly. Burrows got into a jam in the fourth inning, giving up a run, but left the bases loaded to keep the score tied 1-1.
“Sometimes you’re going to come through in those moments, (and) sometimes you’re not,” Kelly said after that game. “It’s learning through all of them, when they’re good, when they’re bad. I think that Burrows has done a good job of that.”
Burrows’ start comes after fellow rookies Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler limited the Rockies to three hits in Friday’s 9-0 Pirates romp. Chandler, baseball’s top pitching prospect, made history by becoming the first pitcher to record a scoreless four-inning save in his debut. He also is the first player in Pirates history to earn a save in his first game.
In making his first appearance against the Rockies, Burrows will oppose Kyle Freeland (3-12, 5.16 ERA), a left-hander in his ninth season with Colorado. He has made nine starts against the Pirates, going 3-4 with a 4.73 ERA. In five starts at PNC Park, Freeland is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA.
In his recent starts, though, Freeland has been sharper. He threw 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball in St. Louis against the Cardinals on Aug. 12, allowing five hits and two walks en route to a 3-0 win. He followed by limiting the Los Angeles Dodgers to two runs on six hits and a walk last Monday, but he only lasted four innings due to a blood blister forming under a fingernail. He left while trying to warm up for the fifth in what became a 4-3 Rockies win.
“I thought the outing was really good, considering what he was going through out there. … He was battling that finger all game,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Just like he always does, he fights through it.”
Pittsburgh’s most veteran hitters have fared well against Freeland. Andrew McCutchen is 9-for-32 (.281) in his career against the Rockies starter, with a home run and four runs driven in. Tommy Pham is .280 (7-for-25) against Freeland, with a homer and two RBIs.
McCutchen and Pham were key to the win on Friday as they combined to 4-for-7 with 6 RBIs. Pham hit a double and a two-run homer, while McCutchen laced a pair of two-run doubles.
The Rockies have lost three of four games but have won seven of their past 11. Rookie second baseman Ryan Ritter extended his hitting streak to a season-best nine games in Friday’s loss. He’s hitting .323 in that span.
–Field Level Media
