Pirates at Rangers
The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to have their way with American League teams, using a visit to the Texas Rangers to snap a long losing streak. The Pirates will aim for a sweep of the two-game interleague set when the teams meet again Wednesday afternoon.
Pittsburgh had dropped eight in a row and was down 3-0 entering the ninth inning in the series opener Tuesday before it rallied to force extra innings and then scored three times in the 11th for a wild 6-4 win. Josh Bell's two-run double tied it in the ninth and Bryan Reynolds and Starling Marte homered in the 11th for the Pirates, who are 3-0 against the AL this year and 18-5 since the start of 2018. Joey Gallo homered and drew a bases-loaded walk to pace the Rangers' attack as they fell to 10-5 at home. Texas will try to avoid the sweep behind veteran Shelby Miller while Pittsburgh goes with Jameson Taillon, who attended high school just outside Houston.
TV: 2:05 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Jameson Taillon (1-3, 4.06 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Shelby Miller (1-1, 7.52)
Taillon was tagged for a season-high five earned runs over five innings of a loss to Arizona his last time out. However, he did not walk a batter in that outing and posted his fourth straight start without allowing a home run. The 27-year-old, who is 0-2 with a 5.23 ERA in six career May starts, owns a 3.07 mark in interleague play and will be facing the Rangers for the first time.
Miller has allowed exactly four runs in four straight starts while recording eight strikeouts and 13 walks. He has served up four homers over his last three outings, including one in a no-decision at Seattle on Friday in which he yielded a season-low three hits over five innings but walked five. The one-time All-Star is 2-7 with a 4.88 ERA in 10 career starts against Pittsburgh.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pirates C Francisco Cervelli left Tuesday's loss after getting hit in the wrist with a pitch.
2. Reynolds is 11-for-26 with six extra-base hits in eight games since being brought up from the minors.
3. Rangers OF Shin-Soo Choo had two hits Tuesday and is 11-for-27 during a six-game hitting streak.