The 10-6 Pittsburgh Pirates are for real. They are in first place in the NL Central and have one of the best rotations in the majors. In game one of their 4-game set with the 7-9 Washington Nationals last night at PNC Park, Paul Skenes pitched another gem, allowing just 1 run over 6 innings of work and the Bucs went on to crush the Nats, 16-5. Tonight in game two another Pittsburgh flamethrower is expected to get the nod and that is Mitch Keller. Keller has been outstanding. Over 18 innings of work he is 1-0 with an ERA of only 1.00 and a barely visible WHIP of 0.94. Washington is expected to counter with Miles Mikolas, and his season thus far has been a disaster. Mikolas comes in at 0-3 with an ERA that has soared to 12.41 with a 2.35 WHIP over just 12.1 innings of work. The Bucs have won 7 of their last 10, are 5-2 at PNC, and should send Mikolas to the showers early.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PITTSBURGH PIRATES