Pirates to start Archer in home opener against Colorado

Published

Colorado Rockies (20-25, fourth in the NL West) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (24-20, third in the NL Central)

Pittsburgh; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rockies: German Marquez (4-2, 3.80 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 65 strikeouts) Pirates: Chris Archer (4-3, 5.58 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 34 strikeouts)

LINE: Rockies favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE:

The Pirates are 9-9 on their home turf. Pittsburgh has slugged .390 this season. Francisco Liriano leads the team with a 1.000 slugging percentage.

The Rockies are 11-14 on the road. Colorado is slugging .437 as a unit. Nolan Arenado leads the team with a slugging percentage of .578. This is the first game between these teams in 2019.

TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 54 hits and is batting .335. Gregory Polanco is 9-for-30 with two doubles, three home runs and five RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.

Arenado leads the Rockies with 11 home runs and has 35 RBIs. Daniel Murphy is 3-for-25 with two doubles and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Colorado.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 6-4, .283 batting average, 5.86 ERA, outscored by 12 runs

Rockies: 4-6, .271 batting average, 5.87 ERA, outscored by one run

Pirates Injuries: Trevor Williams: 10-day IL (right side strain), Jameson Taillon: 60-day IL (elbow), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Keone Kela: 10-day IL (shoulder), Nick Burdi: 60-day IL (biceps), Corey Dickerson: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 10-day IL (finger), Jung Ho Kang: 10-day IL (side), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone).

Rockies Injuries: Chris Rusin: 10-day IL (back), Harrison Musgrave: 10-day IL (elbow), Noel Cuevas: 10-day IL (quad).