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It's not everyday this late in the season, if at all, that you get to see something like this. Friday night at PNC Park three time Cy Young winner and reigning MVP Clayton Kershaw will oppose Pirates homegrown ace Gerrit Cole. Not sure if it is directly related, but ESPN is doing a very rare Friday night broadcast to cover the game. In fact, all three Dodgers-Pirates games will be broadcast on national television this weekend. I wouldn't think that has ever happened in Pittsburgh, short of the Braves playing all their games on TBS in the past.

Clayton Kershaw is well on his way to being one of the best pitchers of all time. He turned 27 years old before the season, and has already accumulated some very impressive accolades. Kershaw is a five time All Star, three time Cy Young winner, and took home the MVP last season. In this season alone, Kershaw ranks first in the majors with 192 strikeouts, he is ranked fifth in the NL in ERA, 4th in WHIP, and is third among NL pitchers in WAR. By his standards, not quite his best year, but right in the thick of the Cy Young race.

Gerrit Cole will turn 25 in September, and has had a very accomplished career already. After two solid partial seasons with the Pirates, the former number 1 overall pick has had a breakout year. Cole has assumed the role of the ace for one of the best teams in the league. Cole was named to his first All Star game last month, and what will be likely the first of many. Cole currently leads the major leagues in wins with 14. He is third in the NL in ERA, 8th in strikeouts, while placing 7th in WAR.

Kershaw is clearly Cole's superior at this point in their careers, and is very reasonable considering this is his 7th full year in the big leagues, while Cole is on track for his second (although last year was injury plagued). But in the present, Cole's season can stand up to Kershaw, and he has the ability to go toe to toe with any big name pitcher in baseball. Gerrit Cole has a very bright future ahead of himself, but has really come on this year to put his name in the Cy Young race.

Games with pitching matchups like this don't happen everyday in the regular season, but Friday night could be a very special and memorable game. Better tune in on TV, because three sell-outs are expected this weekend on the North Shore.

Ok I'm going to make a out there statement. Neither of these teams will make it to the NLCS, thus making this match up a forgotten one by seasons end.

It's almost like baseball plays 100 too many games

For what it's worth, the Pirates will send out Francisco Liriano on Saturday afternoon, and his season can also be mentioned with Kershaw and Cole. Liriano's 2.92 ERA ranks him 13th in the National League. His 1.06 WHIP is 9th in the league, 140 strikeouts ranks him 7th, and Liriano has surrendered just 92 hits this season, which ranks first among NL pitchers that have started at least 20 games this season.

Pretty impressive season from Frankie.

At this point in the year, I think the Cardinals, Pirates, Dodgers, Giants, and Mets can all take the pennant. They all have at least two very good pitchers. The Nationals should be in that mix, but man they are fading fast for some reason. Cubbies still have some work to do in my eyes. Don't think they can quite win a playoff series, but Lester and Arrietta are two good pitchers, and their young bats are going to be very good some day, just not sure if that day is going to be this October.

A lot of baseball left, though.

Cole needs to throw goose eggs for the first 4 or 5 innings. He can't, as he's done in a few games lately, give up 2 or 3 runs early, and his defense had better be lights out behind him as well. Lets have a scoreless shutout for 7 innings, and I'll take the Buc bullpen over the Dodgers for a win.

I'll be there Friday night!

I like Cole against any team not named the Cincinnati Reds lol, he just can't beat those guys.

Looking at the Dodgers lineup, it's good, but not great. The Pirates and Dodgers are virtually the same in Runs Scored and Team Batting Average. What separates the two is the long ball. The Dodgers lead the National League in homers, whereas the Pirates are ranked 12th in the senior circuit. Cole needs to be careful with some of their bigger bats.


Expecting a good series, the Pirates are very good at home and like I've mentioned earlier, PNC will be rocking. I think going down for Sunday night.

Cole made it through 6 anyway, and he wasn't on the hook when it was over. As noted by announcers, neither pitcher was on top of his game last night. Bases loaded 3 times, twice with no outs, and only score 2 runs, thankfully the last was a walk-off. Bucco bullpen did it. Bastardo got lucky again. He needs to buy a Lottery ticket. Way to go Toro. Huge hit. When is Polanco going to get his head out of his butt while on base? Little league base running mistakes.

Not the pitching matchup everyone expected, but at the very least it was an entertaining game. Back and forth, very exciting game indeed. Many accounts said it felt like a playoff atmosphere.

I think Cole had the better of the two pitchers that night, and he caught some tough breaks. He allowed two runs because Morse's foot came off the bag with two outs, and another run when a ball Marte couldn't hang on to a ball. Just some tough luck, but be battled.