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The Arizona Diamondbacks will be playing the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon. The Pirates beat the Diamondbacks 6-4 on Wednesday, bringing their record to 45-66. Arizona is now 50-60 after losing. Pittsburgh has been a pretty bad team away from home, holding just a 21-37 away record this season. They've also dropped 21 of their last 28 games against the D-Backs.
"Late night dub. #RaiseIt" - Pirates
Arizona will hand the ball to Merrill Kelly for Thursday's contest. He is 10-5 with a 2.86 ERA through 22 starts. Recently, the right-hander has been excellent, surrendering just two earned runs in his last 22 innings, spanning three starts.
The Pirates offense Kelly will be up against ranks third-lowest in runs per game and third-lowest in OPS. Kelly's expected stats do indicate that he may regress by year's end, but against the Pirates, he shouldn't have any issues. The Diamondbacks' righty has been very consistent this year and should add to his solid season on Thursday.
J.T. Brubaker, who is 2-10 with a 4.49 ERA, will be on the hill Thursday for Pittsburgh. The Diamondbacks offense he'll be up against ranks slightly below average in most major offensive categories.
Brubaker's last two starts haven't been great for the right-hander as he's allowed 10 earned runs in his previous 8 1/3 innings. The Diamondbacks have some decent hitters who could do damage against Brubaker Thursday afternoon, but expect him to battle nonetheless.
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Match Details
Fixture: Pittsburgh Pirates @ Arizona Diamondbacks
Date & Time: Thursday, August 11, 3:40 p.m. EDT
Venue: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Odds
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Best Picks
Merill Kelly has allowed five or fewer hits in five of his previous seven starts. The Pirates have a .220 batting average collectively, and they lost a couple of key hitters at the deadline.
When Kelly faced Pittsburgh back in June, he surrendered five hits, so expect to stay at or below that number in the series finale. Also, Kelly has pitched three straight games of seven or more innings, so expect him to go deep here too.
"Merrill Kelly, 82mph Curveball (ball) and 92mph Cutter (backwards K), Overlay." - Rob Friedman
Pick: Merrill Kelly Under 5.5 Hits Allowed (-115) & Over 18.5 Outs Recorded (-120)
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Prediction
Brubaker has been unlucky at this point in the year to have only two wins. His 10 losses rank him high on a list no pitcher wants to be on. While Brubaker's stats aren't terrible, Kelly is the reigning National League Pitcher of the Month. Expect the Diamondbacks to lead after five with their best pitcher on the bump.
Prediction: Diamondbacks First 5 Innings -0.5 (-114)
