Pirates vs. Mets: July 26-29

[Crimson's Ghost]

Pirates have won 13 of their last 15 games.  They are 7 back in the Central, and just 3.5 out of a wild card spot. The Mets are the second-worst team in the National League. Big series with the trade deadline on the horizon. 

Pirates have been relatively healthy of late, but Dickerson and Marte seemed to get nicked up in recent days - Hopefully all is well with them. 

Thursday 7:05 - Nick Kingham (5-4 4.11) vs. Steven Matz (4-8 3.65)
Friday 7:05 - Ivan Nova (6-6 4.28) vs. Jason Vargas (2-6 8.60)
Saturday 7:05 - Trevor Williams (8-7 4.11) vs. Jacob deGrom (5-5 1.71)
Sunday 1:35 - Jue Musgrove (4-4 3.90) vs. Zack Wheeler (4-6 4.33)

How many should they get?  How many do they need to get? 

[EaglealumsGhost]

4-0 optimal obviously but a reach, need 3-1! Anything else a loss as far as forcing front office to try to add. 2-2 or 1-3 I see them selling

[Wrasslerfan]

4-0 optimal obviously but a reach, need 3-1! Anything else a loss as far as forcing front office to try to add. 2-2 or 1-3 I see them selling

Spot on eaglealumsghost

[Crimson's Ghost]

No Marte or Dickerson again tonight.  Not good. 

[PLDragons24]

This has been a very ugly game so far. The defense has been terrible. Glasnow certainly wasn’t perfect but he should have been out of that inning several times. This is the kind of game that can kill momentum. 

[PAMDGrappler]

Kinghams stuff was really bad tonight. Wild and very flat when he found the strike zone. He was hit hard. I agree with Crimson, if Dickerson and Marte miss significant time, things could go south very quickly.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Kingham has been alright in recent weeks, but he just didn’t have it tonight.  Plus the offense couldn’t bail them out.  
Losing tonight doesn’t kill them, but it wasn’t ideal.  See what they can do tomorrow.  I’m guessing Dickerson and Marte should be back. 

[Crimson's Ghost]

And I’ll give credit where credit is due. Baurer was awesome yesterday and Matz pitched a nice game tonight.

[PAMDGrappler]

Absolutely. Kingham had a tough night and could never find a groove, and they ran into another pitcher with really good stuff. It’s also easier on starters to pitch with a lead. During the win streak, they were able to jump on teams early and the starters cruised from there. The last two games, they fell behind early. It didn’t help that the infield was awful tonight either. On a side note, I thought Luplow played a solid game. I was really down on him yesterday, but he showed some grit tonight. I’m not sure I see him as a leadoff man or even a part of the future, but he had a good game nonetheless. You’ll have games like this...tomorrow’s another day!

[ChrisKentRam]

Absolutely.  Kingham had a tough night and could never find a groove, and they ran into another pitcher with really good stuff.  It’s also easier on starters to pitch with a lead.  During the win streak, they were able to jump on teams early and the starters cruised from there.  The last two games, they fell behind early.  It didn’t help that the infield was awful tonight either.  On a side note, I thought Luplow played a solid game.  I was really down on him yesterday, but he showed some grit tonight.  I’m not sure I see him as a leadoff man or even a part of the future, but he had a good game nonetheless.  You’ll have games like this...tomorrow’s another day!

Sounds like Luplow might be a trade chip.