Teams open a three-game home series
Pirates at Diamondbacks, 5:10 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34
Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (1-1, 4.60) vs. Pirates LHP Andrew Heaney (3-3, 2.91).
At Chase Field: Nelson gave up just one run on three hits in five innings against the Dodgers last week in his first start in place of LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, who is on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. … It was Nelson’s second start of the year; he also filled in for RHP Corbin Burnes when he had his start skipped earlier in the month. His other nine appearances this season have come in relief. … He faced the Pirates once last year, giving up four runs in five innings in a start in Pittsburgh. … Heaney has given up more than two runs in only two of his 10 starts so far this year. … He has allowed one run in five innings in each of his past two outings. … Heaney has faced the Diamondbacks only twice in his career, most recently in a relief outing last season (no runs in 2 1/3 innings). … Heaney averages just 90 mph with his fastball. His deep pitch mix also includes a change-up, slider and a curveball, the speed of which he can vary.
Coming up
May 27: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Corbin Burnes (3-2, 2.73) vs. Pirates RHP Mike Burrows (0-1, 7.20).
May 28: At Chase Field, 12:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (3-6, 5.25) vs. Pirates RHP Paul Skenes (3-5, 2.36).
May 29: Off.
May 30: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (5-2, 3.52) vs. Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (3-1, 3.42).
The Pirates won just 76 games last year — their second consecutive season with 76 wins — but it seemed they had a little momentum on their side with the emergence of star RHP Paul Skenes, who arrived in the majors and immediately looked like one of the better starters in baseball. However, the Pirates did little to further upgrade their roster over the winter, got off to a brutal start and wound up firing manager Derek Shelton earlier this month and replacing him with Donnie Kelly, a Pittsburgh native who had a nine-year playing career and had been a member of Shelton’s staff. They are 7-9 under Kelly after going 12-26 with Shelton. Skenes is throwing well again, with a 2.36 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings, and a trio of other Pirates starters are throwing well, but they have had trouble scoring runs. They rank last in the majors with a 3.04 runs per game average and are hitting just .224/.304/.331 as a team. CF Oneil Cruz is off to a solid start, hitting .232/.362/.491 with 11 homers. He hit a ball 122.9 mph on Sunday, May 25, the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era (since 2015).
