Cleveland @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 19, 2010 ) Cleveland 4, Pittsburgh 6
It took another last-place team, but that doesn’t matter much to the Pittsburgh Pirates. One of the longest losing streaks in club history is dead, and now they have a chance Sunday to win their fourth series since the start of May.
The Pirates’ 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday ended a 12-game losing skid, the second-longest in franchise history since 1900, and took some of the focus off what has been a difficult week for the franchise.
Following confusion over the call-up of top prospect Pedro Alvarez and the strange extensions given to general manager Neal Huntington and manager John Russell, the Pirates on Friday fired a team employee for being critical of the extensions on Facebook.
Andrew Kurtz, a 24-year-old who raced as a pierogi as part of in-game entertainment, was fired after criticizing the extensions that were given during the offseason but recently made public. Kurtz was quickly snapped up by an independent league team in nearby Washington (Pa.), where he will trade in his pierogi costume for a hot dog race.
Aside from the off-field theatrics, Brad Lincoln, a first-round pick from 2006, will make his third start of the season for the Pirates on Sunday. He has been hit hard in each of his first two starts, allowing five runs in six innings in each.
Lincoln’s addition has been a recent trend for Pittsburgh, the worst team in the National League. He has been joined by top prospects Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker on a team going nowhere and hoping to build something for the future.
The Pirates used a couple of young veterans in Lastings Milledge and Andrew McCutchen to break the long losing skid on Saturday. Milledge had three hits and four RBIs while McCutchen reached base five times and scored four runs.
They will face Cleveland’s Justin Masterson, who is searching for consistency. Masterson lost his first five decisions to start the season before rebounding to pitch remarkably well in consecutive starts against the Chicago White Sox and Boston, his former team.
But Masterson was hammered again in his last start, allowing six runs in seven innings to the Mets.
Indians catcher Carlos Santana, who was called up just over a week ago, was limited to pinch-hitting duties Saturday. A highly touted prospect, he has five hits, including three doubles, in his last 10 at-bats.