The Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rockies last night. Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller tossed his first career complete-game shutout. Keller allowed four hits, walked one and struck out eight. Rodolfo Castro hit a game-winning two-run home run in the seventh inning. The Bucs improved to 21-15 overall, and remained a half-game in front of Milwaukee in the National League Central. The Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-3 last night.
The Bucs and Rockies play again tonight at 6:35pm. Pre-game on WISR begins at 6:10pm.
With the injury to starter Vince Velasquez, the Pirates will call up Luiz Ortiz to start tonight’s game. The 24-year old Ortiz made his MLB debut last season and started four times for the Pirates, pitching to a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings. This season with Triple-A Indianapolis, he has gone 2-1 with a 2.23 ERA in seven games, walking 11 and striking out 29 in 32 1/3 innings.
The Pirates also optioned infielder Mike Mathias to Indianapolis prior to yesterday’s game and brought up Chris Owings to play shortstop last night. He had a hit in his Pirates debut, his sixth major league team.