The Pirates are back in first place in the National League Central Division after extending their winning streak to six last night with a walk-filled win over Oakland. Joe Block has the recap.
Manager Derek Shelton says the Bucs are playing good baseball.
Shelton says starter Johan Oviedo pitched well.
Oviedo said he hung tough despite not having his best stuff.
The Pirates will go for their seventh straight win tonight in game two of the series, sending ace Mitch Keller [7-1, 3.25 ERA] to the mound against the A’s’ righty James Kaprielian [0-6, 8.12 ERA]. 6:40 airtime, 7:05 first pitch on WCCS.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington says Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez will share time at catcher for Triple-A Indianapolis after Davis’s promotion from Altoona, with each playing a secondary position on days when they are not catching. For Davis, that will likely be right field. For Rodriguez, it will probably be first base.
Pirates.com also reports that Cherington says there will be other promotions in the Bucs’ minor league system this month as the season hits the halfway point, but does not mention who will be next.
ALTOONA CURVE
The Altoona Curve take their five-game winning streak to Richmond tonight to open a six-game series. Right-hander Kyle Nicolas gets the start for Altoona, which will announce at some point today a roster addition at catcher to replace Henry Davis after his promotion to Indianapolis.
