The Diamondbacks and Pirates play the rubber game of their weekend series, Pittsburgh 2 1/2 games back of third place wild card Arizona. The pitching matchup at least favors Pittsburgh as the Diamondbacks send Ryne Nelson against rookie sensation Paul Skenes. Nelson is a low strikeout, low walk pitcher .322 BABIP this season. Skenes is a high K, even lower walk pitcher with a .275 BABIP. He does allow home runs, however, eight long balls in 80 innings.

The Orioles go for a split of their four game series against the Guardians with Corbin Burnes facing Gavin Williams. Burnes appears to be a pitcher, at least this season, that doesn’t care about stolen bases. Opponents are 26 for 30 against him, and yet Burnes leads the AL in ERA. If you get the batter, the stolen base turns out to be not that important, and opponents are hitting .175/.238/.263 against Burnes with runners in scoring position. Williams makes his seventh start of the season, and is holding opponents to a .342 slugging percentage.

Finally, the Phillies lost six games in a row as they finish up their series in Seattle. Zack Wheeler battles Logan Gilbert. Wheeler appears to be in a cold streak going back to the middle of June, but he sandwiched five good starts between two very bad ones. Gilbert does a good job of inducing double plays, with 14 turned behind him in 49 opportunities.

Enjoy!