Padres at Pirates 5/17/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

In Thursday night MLB action, the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates will open up a four-game series from PNC Park. The Padres have won three of their last four games and are ten games below .500 overall. On Tuesday, SP Jordan Lyles was perfect through seven plus innings and struck out ten batters during a 4-0 victory versus Colorado.

Rookie left-hander Eric Lauer (1-2 8.27 ERA) will make the fifth start of his major league career. Through 16 plus innings, Lauer has surrendered five long balls and owns an ugly 2.14 WHIP. The Pittsburgh Pirates have won seven of their last eight games and are eight games above .500 overall. On Wednesday, pinch-hitter Josh Bell provided a tie-breaking single in the seventh inning to lead the Pirates to a 3-2 victory over the White Sox. Sean Rodriguez doubled in the other two runs for Pittsburgh, who leads Milwaukee by a half-game for the NL Central Division lead.

Twenty-five year old righty Chad Kuhl (4-2 4.17 ERA) will make his ninth start for the Pirates. Last time out, Kuhl allowed six hits and three runs over six innings during a 6-5 victory versus San Francisco.