Bassitt, Athletics to take on Williams, Pirates

Published

Oakland Athletics (15-19, fifth in the AL West) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (14-15, fourth in the AL Central)

Pittsburgh; Saturday, 7 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Chris Bassitt (1-0, .75 ERA, .75 WHIP, 16 strikeouts) Pirates: Trevor Williams (1-1, 3.38 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 27 strikeouts)

LINE: Athletics favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh and Oakland will face off at PNC Park on Saturday.

The Pirates are 6-8 in home games. Pittsburgh's team on-base percentage of .291 is last in the MLB. Melky Cabrera leads the club with an OBP of .372.

The Athletics are 5-11 in road games. Oakland's team on-base percentage of .317 is fourth in the American League. Matt Chapman leads the club with an OBP of .390. The Athletics won the last meeting 14-1. Brett Anderson earned his fourth victory and Josh Phegley went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and eight RBIs for Oakland. Joe Musgrove registered his third loss for Pittsburgh.

TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell leads the Pirates with six home runs and is slugging .575. Jung Ho Kang is 6-for-33 with a double, two home runs and two RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.

Khris Davis leads the Athletics with 10 home runs home runs and is slugging .484. Chapman is 11-for-38 with four doubles, three home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Oakland.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 2-8, .232 batting average, 6.37 ERA, outscored by 39 runs

Athletics: 4-6, .236 batting average, 4.33 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

Pirates Injuries: Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Nick Burdi: 10-day IL (biceps), Chris Archer: 10-day IL (thumb), Corey Dickerson: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 10-day IL (finger), Jose Osuna: 10-day IL (neck), Kevin Newman: 10-day IL (finger), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Jacob Stallings: 10-day IL (neck).

Athletics Injuries: Lou Trivino: day-to-day (thumb), Sean Manaea: 60-day IL (shoulder), Daniel Gossett: 60-day IL (elbow), Marco Estrada: 10-day IL (lumbar strain), Jharel Cotton: 60-day IL (elbow), Nick Martini: 10-day IL (knee), Mark Canha: 10-day IL (wrist), Matt Olson: 10-day IL (hand), Chris Herrmann: 60-day IL (knee).