Philadelphia Phillies at Pittsburgh Pirates 8/1/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

In Sunday afternoon MLB action, the Philadelphia Phillies will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates from PNC Park. The Phillies (51-53) have dropped 32 of their first 52 road games and have fallen four games behind the first place New York Mets. Last night, Philadelphia left nine men on base during a 3-2 road loss against Pittsburgh.

Newly acquired right-hander Kyle Gibson (6-3 2.87 ERA) will make his first start as a member of the Phillies. Gibson is winless in his last four starts and has surrendered 17 runs over his last 23 innings of work.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have won consecutive games and are sitting in last place in the NL Central Division standings. On Saturday, Pittsburgh C Jacob Stalling hit into a walk-off fielders choice that allowed Bryan Reynolds to score the winning run. OF Ben Gamel had a pair of hits and scored a run for the Pirates, who improved to 40-64 on the season.

Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton has yet to name a starting pitcher for Sunday. The Pirates lack quality options on a staff that ranks fourth worst in the majors with a 4.96 team ERA.