The Arizona Diamondbacks will travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to face the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park for a three-game weekend series with Game 1 starting at 6:40 PM ET on Friday evening. They will air on SportsNet Pittsburgh and Diamondbacks TV.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have been one of the hottest teams after the MLB All-Star Break as they have compiled a record of 9-3 to start the 2nd half of the season and are on a three-game winning streak after a 3-0 series sweep at home against the Washington Nationals in which they outscored the Nationals 31-12 to improve their record to 58-51 which puts them in 3rd place in the NL West, behind the Dodgers and Padres, while also putting them in the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
Arizona won Game 3 against Washington on Wednesday. The 6th inning played a crucial role in the win. Four of Arizona's five runs were scored in the 6th inning, including Corbin Carroll scoring off a double from Jose Herrera in what would ultimately be the game-winning run.
This will be the 2nd series between Arizona and Pittsburgh this season with the Diamondbacks having won the previous series 2-1 in July while outscoring the Pirates by an average of 6 to 4.67 runs per game in those matchups. The Arizona Diamondbacks will look to extend their winning streak to four games when they travel to face the Pittsburgh Pirates for Game 1.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have won three of their last four games to improve their record to 55-53 this season. This puts them in third place in the NL Central, six games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the division, and 2.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
The Pirates are coming off a 2-1 series win on the road against the Houston Astros, ending with a 4-5 loss in Game 3 of the series and their three-game winning streak. Pittsburgh was the first to score in Game 3 and scored the first four runs of the game in the top of the 2nd inning which included a two-run home run hit by Joey Bart which also scored Bryan De La Cruz, however, they would allow five unanswered runs to lose the game 4-5.
The Pirates have lost two of the three meetings this season against the Diamondbacks and seven of the previous ten games in the series while having been outscored by Arizona by an average of 4.5 to 5.4 runs per game in those matchups. The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to bounce back following their loss in Game 3 against the Houston Astros when they host the Arizona Diamondbacks for Game 1 of the series on Friday evening.
WagerWeb lists the Arizona Diamondbacks as -135 moneyline favorites on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates for Game 1 of the series on Friday evening. Arizona has won seven of the last ten by an average margin of .9 runs per game and two of the three games this season by an average margin of 1.33 runs per game.
Arizona has dominated the series against Pittsburgh, winning six of the last eight and 14 of the previous 19 road games. The Diamondbacks have also been one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning seven of their last eight games, including a 2-1 series win against the Pirates.
As a result, I am taking the moneyline for the Arizona Diamondbacks when they travel to face the Pittsburgh Pirates for Game 1 of the series on Friday evening.
