It’s the time of the season for the ‘Battle of Pennsylvania’ between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates. And once again this year it is a similar matchup of a team with a 26-man payroll of over $200+ million dollar with the Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates with only a $42 million dollar, 26-man payroll. But despite the payroll differences, the Pirates always seem to field a pesky team that is capable of winning ballgames.
Bryce Harper, back on the field on defense for the Phillies:
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Pirates are 45-57 on the year and just came off a series win taking 2 out of 3 games from the Padres in San Diego. So the Pirates do have some fight in them. Last year, the Phillies handled them well though with a 6-1 record against their cross-state rivals.
Embed from Getty ImagesLongtime player for the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen, has returned to his old team this year after spending some time on the Phillies and the Brewers. Cutch has been in the DH role for the Pirates this year and has 10 HR and 28 RBI. Andrew was with the Phillies for 3 seasons and now he has been with the Pirates for a total of 10 years.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Phillies will be facing Mitch Keller (9-6 with a 4.01 ERA) tonight and he just happens to be in 5th place in the NL with most strikeouts. The Phillies have Zack Wheeler pitching for them tonight, he’s 7-5 with a 3.88 ERA.
