The struggling Pittsburgh Pirates (14-22 Overall, 6-15 Away) go into tonight’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks (21-16 Overall, 15-6 Home) already having dropped two to the home team. The Pirates are last in the NL Central sitting 6.5 games behind the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Over their last 10 games they have lost eight and they are currently on a six-game losing streak. In the NL West, the Diamondbacks are two games behind the first-place Colorado Rockies. They are even over their last 10 games, but they have won three in a row. Our Pirates play Diamondbacks MLB free pick has Pittsburgh at +156, Arizona at -153, and the over 10.5 at -115 and under at +104.
Pitching
Trevor Williams (1-1, 7.98 ERA), who has made one start this season and six relief appearances, takes the mound for the Pirates tonight. When he faced the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday for his first start he gave up six runs in the first inning. Williams lasted three innings in what would be a 12-1 loss. This is his first time in his career that he has faced Arizona.
Arizona will send right-hander Taijuan Walker (3-2, 3.83) to the mound. Walker allowed just one earned run over 5.2 innings in his last start on Sunday at Colorado. Despite a good effort, he took the loss. This is the first time that Walker will face the Bucs in what is his initial season in the NL. In five of his seven starts, he has given up three or fewer earned runs.
Hitting
The light-hitting Pirates come to this game with a team batting average of .222. David Freese, who is batting .305, played last night but did nothing. Adam Frazier, who is at .300, also played but went hitless. Josh Harrison brings his a .290 average to the plate tonight while Gregory Polanco, who has the next highest batting average, is at .250. Andrew McCutchen, a lifetime .290 hitter, is batting .211. He has five homeruns and 15 RBI. The Pirates have hit just 31 homers and have driven in only 115 runs. The teams RS/RA differential is -41.
Arizona has plenty of firepower in Brandon Drury (38 H, 10 DBL, 14 RBI), Paul Goldschmidt (40 H, 7 HR, 28 RBI), and Chris Owings (39 H, 5 HR, 22 RBI). They are respectively batting .325, .313, and .310. Jake Lamb has seven homers and 26 RBI and Yasmany Tomas has knocked six balls over the wall and driven in 24 runs. Arizona is +31 in RS/RA. The team batting average is .261.
Pirates Play Diamondbacks MLB Free Pick
The Pirates have scored a total of 128 runs while the Diamondbacks have managed to cross the plate 182. Pittsburgh has allowed 169 runs while Arizona has given up 151.Our Pirates play Diamondbacks MLB free pick likes the moneyline on Arizona at -153 and the under at 10.5 runs for +104. The game starts tonight at 8:05 p.m. E.T.
Pirates Play Diamondbacks MLB Free Pick:Arizona at -153 and under 10.5 at +104
