Pittsburgh Pirates at Arizona Diamondbacks 8/10/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Pittsburgh Pirates will close out a series on the road at Chase Field when they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. Pittsburgh has lost three of their last four and has fallen to 21 games below .500 at 44-65 on the season. Arizona has won three of their last four games but are still well out of the playoff picture at 49-59 on the season, 26 games back in the NL West and 10 back of the wildcard. 

Both of these offenses have had some struggles this season and the Pirates have been one of the worst teams in baseball at the plate this season. Pittsburgh is averaging just 3.60 runs per game ranking 28th in the league in scoring offense, and have been shutout twice in their last five games. Rookie third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes has been a nice addition leading the team with 35 RBIs and batting .245 on the year.

The right-handed Mitch Keller will get the start for the Pirates in what has been a solid bounce back year despite his 3-8 record. Keller has dropped his ERA nearly 2.00 whole points from last season, his WHIP is down, strikeouts are up and walks are down across more innings this season. Keller allowed a run on eight hits in six innings, but the Pirates bats were dormant and they lost to the Orioles 1-0. 

Arizona has fared better offensively than the Pirates, they’re averaging 4.24 runs per game which ranks 19th in the MLB. First baseman Christian Walker has had some struggles batting for contact hitting just .204 on the year, but leads the team with 26 home runs and 61 RBIs. Second baseman Ketel Marte leads the team batting .261 and drove in two of the three runs in the series opener. 

The left-handed Madison Bumgarner will get the start for the Diamondbacks, he’s shown signs of aging but is still a solid member of the rotation going 6-10 with a 3.96 ERA – if the season ended today that would be his lowest ERA since joining the Diamondbacks in 2020. Bumgarner did struggle in his last outing allowing four runs on ten hits in 5.2 innings of work, but the Diamondbacks battle to get the 6-5 win.