Left-hander Bailey Falter, who is coming off perhaps the best season of his career, will start on Saturday afternoon as his Pittsburgh Pirates visit the Miami Marlins.
Falter went 8-9 with a 4.43 ERA last year, setting his career bests for wins, home run rate per nine innings (1.1), hits per nine (8.7) and starts (28).
He sports a 3-0 record with a 4.30 ERA in eight career games (five starts) against the Marlins.
Falter would love to get big-time support from Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz, who had a huge game on Friday. He went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs, two runs, one walk and one steal in a 4-3 victory over Miami.
“He’s Oneil Cruz — he’s one of those players you have to pitch around a little bit,” Marlins starting pitcher Connor Gillispie said after Friday’s game. “You know he’s going to do damage.”
The Pirates also have a new player this weekend as 26-year-old infielder Enmanuel Valdez was added to replace second baseman Nick Gonzales, who has a non-displaced fracture on his left ankle.
Gonzales, who homered in the Pirates’ 5-4 season-opening loss on Thursday, was placed on the 10-day injured list.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said he loves Valdez’s versatility.
“He has a left-handed ability to hit,” Shelton said. “We knew he could hit when we acquired him, and his ability to play all over the diamond is something we value.”
Meanwhile, the Marlins, who made a league-high 117 errors last year, are still trying to clean up that part of their game.
Miami made four errors in its loss to Pittsburgh on Friday.
The Marlins on Saturday will start right-hander Valente Bellozo, who made his MLB debut last season, going 3-4 with a 3.67 ERA.
Bellozo, 25, faced the Pirates once, going 0-1 but with a 1.69 ERA. In that start on Sept. 9 at Pittsburgh, Bellozo went 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits with two strikeouts.
Bellozo likely will have Otto Lopez playing at second base on Saturday.
Lopez was hit in the face on Friday as he tried to catch a throw from center fielder Derek Hill. However, Lopez stayed in the game and later homered off Pirates closer David Bednar in the ninth inning.
“It took a tricky hop,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said of the one-bounce throw from Hill to Lopez. “But Otto’s a tough guy.”
McCullough also liked the fact that the Marlins rallied from a three-run deficit to win on Thursday. And, after trailing by four runs on Friday, they battled before falling by a run.
“It was great to a lot of fight from our guys,” McCullough said. “Our guys are never going to quit. We keep giving ourselves chances late.
“For the Pirates having to use leverage relievers (such as Bednar) is big, especially in a four-game series.”
As for Miami’s bullpen, the Marlins got a big boost on Friday when reliever Tyler Phillips pitched three scoreless innings.
The Marlins acquired him from the Phillies on Wednesday.
“Right in the moment, you feel a lot of emotions,” Phillips said of the trade. “Super excited to be in Miami.”
–Field Level Media
