Game One Hundred and Thirty-Five: Pittsburgh Pirates at Kansas City Royals

The Buccaneers of the Allegheny take on the Leaders of the Missouri tonight at Kauffman Stadium to wrap up this three game set. Kansas City has been outscored 11-3 over the first two games of this series and will look to salvage the finisher tonight.

Angel Zerpa will start for the home team. Zerpa debuted in 2021 and I still have no idea what to make of him. Part of that is the lack of innings. Over the past two seasons, he has thrown a total of 134.2 innings, spending time on the 60-day IL in both campaigns. Only 33.1 of those innings have come in the majors and he has been entirely unable to miss bats in those innings. It’s been ugly in 17.1 innings this season as Zerpa has pitched to a 7.27 ERA and 6.04 FIP. He has never faced Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh will counter with Andre Jackson. Jackson is in his first season with the organization after coming up with the Dodgers. He had mostly pitched in a multi-inning relief role in his brief big league action but has gotten time as a starter over the past few weeks. In 19 innings since joining the Pirates, Jackson has a 3.32 ERA and 3.48 FIP. He has never faced Kansas City.

First pitch: 7:10 pm CDT

Royals lineup

Pirates lineup