Pittsburgh @ Los Angeles preview
Dodger Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 1, 2010 ) Pittsburgh 1, LA Dodgers 5
Pittsburgh used eight different starting pitchers during April, a month that ended with the Pirates saddled with a team earned-run average of 6.71.
So to say there’s a bit of optimism brewing over a pitcher with nine major league wins to his credit seems odd, especially when that pitcher was taken off the 40-man roster in the offseason.
Jeff Karstens pitches today against the Los Angeles Dodgers, fresh off allowing just two runs in 6 2/3 innings in his first start of the season against Milwaukee. His effort came one day after the Pirates were routed 17-3 by the Brewers for the club’s seventh straight loss.
His good outing started a modest three-game winning streak. Now Karstens is back on the mound after the Pirates lost the first two games of the weekend series to the Dodgers.
The 27-year-old Karstens is just 9-17 in his career, but one of his first outings as a Pirate was one of the team’s more memorable moments of the 2008 campaign.
Karstens had a perfect game going with two outs in the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks in an early-August game before Chris Young broke it up with a double. He ended up with a two-hit shutout.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, Karstens seldom put together solid outings the rest of that season or in 13 starts in 2009. But the way he responded after being demoted from the roster, beginning this season as a reliever in the minors and quickly making it back to the big leagues, has been inspiring.
Another effort like the one against Milwaukee might keep him in the Pirates’ beleaguered rotation for a while.
Opposing Karstens will be Hiroki Kuroda, who is 2-1 with a 2.36 ERA in four starts. Kuroda has 22 strikeouts and just six walks in 26 2/3 innings.
Kuroda hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any game this season.
Beating Pittsburgh in the first two games of the series put a calm ending to a stressful week for the Dodgers.
Los Angeles lost five games in a row, and general manager Ned Colletti blasted the team – specifically center fielder Matt Kemp – for shoddy play.
The fuss has quieted down with Andre Ethier swinging a hot bat. Ethier homered in each of the first two games of the series and is hitting .350 with seven homers and 22 RBIs.
Kemp is tied for the team lead in homers and has 20 RBIs to go with a .280 batting average.
Pittsburgh expects to have Garrett Jones available today. Jones missed Saturday’s game after food got lodged in his throat late Friday night.
Andrew McCutchen is swinging the bat well for the Pirates. He homered on Saturday for his third in four games and is hitting .297.