The Pittsburgh Pirates (43-30), fresh off a win over their division rival Cincinnati Reds, are headed west to face off against the Los Angeles Angels (33-40) of the American League at 10:10 p.m. The game can be live streamed here. Pirates fans can listen to the action on KDKA-FM 93.7 while Angels fans can flip their dials to KLAA 830.
The Angels have picked up their play a bit this month after a dreadful start to the season, and can thank Mike Trout, their second-year savior for much of the team's success.
In 2013, Trout is building up a worthy companion to his legendary rookie season which netted him the American League Rookie of the Year award, and second place in the AL MVP race behind Miguel Cabrera. This year, Trout is hitting .317, with 12 home runs, 44 RBI and 16 stolen bases. His on base percentage is hovering near .400, while his slugging is up to .556.
Trout has been able to somewhat mask the utter failures of Josh Hamilton, this season's free agent splash. Hamilton is batting just .207 this year, with 10 homers and only 25 RBI.
First baseman Albert Pujols has been a shell of himself as well, hitting .265 with 12 home runs, 44 RBI, and posting an OPS of .787. Pujols has never had an OPS lower than .859 in his previous 12 years in MLB.
Jered Weaver (1-3, 4.41 ERA) will pitch for Los Angeles, against highly-touted Pirates rookie Gerrit Cole (2-0, 3.75 ERA). Cole exited Triple A with a reputation as a hard thrower who struggles to miss bats.
So far that scouting report has been accurate. In his last outing, against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cole went 5.2 innings and gave up three runs. Although he didn't walk anyone for the second consecutive start, he struck out just one batter, giving him three strikeouts in 12.1 innings of work.
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