LOS ANGELES — The Pittsburgh Pirates headed north by bus Sunday evening to see if the roller-coaster ride will continue.
Fresh off a series victory at San Diego
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That winning run came after a five-game losing streak. The five games before that? The Pirates won four of them.
The Dodgers have been a bit steadier of late, going 17-9 in June to keep pace with the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West. But the end of June was a bit of a struggle as the Dodgers lost four of their last five before the calendar flipped. They opened July with a 6-4 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.
Not only did the Dodgers’ offense take off in June, to the tune of 55 home runs to set a franchise record for a month, the pitching staff got healthy again … literally.
Alex Wood (4-5, 4.00 ERA) will take the mound Monday, looking and feeling much better after nagging leg cramps early in the year.
Wood went seven innings against the Chicago Cubs in his last outing Wednesday, his longest start since his season debut on March 30 when he worked eight innings against the San Francisco Giants.
An All-Star for the first time last season, Wood is once again starting to look like the pitcher who can rise to the occasion on a nightly basis.
“I’m still looking for consistency out of my sinker, but the breaking ball was a lot better
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The Dodgers also have Clayton Kershaw back recently from a lower back injury and Rich Hill returned from a blister on his left middle finger. Both left-handers will face the Pirates this week.
Pittsburgh announced Sunday that Nick Kingham (2-3, 3.82) will start the series opener at Dodger Stadium. He will take the spot of Chad Kuhl, who is on the DL with a forearm strain.
The Pirates (40-43) know that getting some length on their current winning ways can get them to .500 soon, possibly by the All-Star break that starts in two weeks.
“We’re starting to show a little bit of resiliency here the last week or so,” Pirates infielder Josh Harrison said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “A team that (is) not making any excuses, which is refreshing because at the end of the day we know what we have to do and that’s come to show up every day.
“It’s been some ups and downs, but every team goes through ups and downs, and a lot of guys here are riding that wave of knowing that any day can be that day that we turn it around.”
Wood is 2-2 with a 2.86 ERA in eight career games (seven starts) against the Pirates. He has not faced Pittsburgh since last season. Kingham, a rookie
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DENVER — When Andrew Suarez starts Wednesday for the San Francisco Giants, he will try to help them avoid being swept by the Colorado Rockies and solidify his spot in the Giants’ changing rotation.
Colorado left-hander Tyler Anderson (5-3, 4.23 ERA) will oppose Suarez (3-4, 4.18).
Before his team lost 8-1 on Tuesday to the Rockies, Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced that Johnny Cueto will be reinstated from the 60-day disabled list to start Thursday against St. Louis and Jeff Samardzija will come off the 10-day disabled list and start Saturday against the Cardinals.
Cueto (elbow strain) went 3-0 with an 0.84 ERA in five starts for the Giants this season. His last start for the Giants came April 28, and he pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings in two rehab starts for Triple-A Sacramento.
“Johnny’s set to go,” Bochy said. “He passed all the tests, checked every box off. Been throwing the ball well. Hasn’t given up a run there. Bullpen (session Monday) went fine. Been hitting, bunting. I talked to Johnny. He said, ‘I’m ready to go. I feel better now than before (the injury).’ When you get one of your big guys ready to go, you pitch him.”
Bochy said Cueto would be limited to 85 pitches Thursday
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Samardzija will pitch for the Giants for the first time since May 29. Bochy said that Dereck Rodriguez, who was scheduled to pitch Thursday, will instead start Friday. Madison Bumgarner, of course, will take his regular turn Sunday. That leaves Suarez or Chris Stratton for the final spot in the rotation. Both pitchers have minor league options.
Suarez might have the advantage because he has pitched well lately. He went 2-0 in six June starts, and in his last outing Friday at Arizona, he allowed one run in six innings. Suarez made his Coors Field debut and first start against the Rockies on May 28 and allowed four runs (three earned) in five innings in a no-decision after heeding advice from catcher Buster Posey.
Suarez said, “I remember the last time we were, before my bullpen
Rickard Rakell Jersey , Buster came up to me and he was like ‘As long as you keep throwing it right, it’ll be fine. But if you try too much, that’s the problem you’ll have. Your stuff isn’t as good.’ I just made sure to just throw it normal.”
Meanwhile, Stratton gave up a career-high 11 hits and a career-high eight runs in 5 2/3 innings Tuesday. In his past six starts, Stratton is 1-3 with a 5.79 ERA.
Anderson threw a career-high eight scoreless innings with one walk and eight strikeouts Wednesday at Los Angeles in a 3-1 win over the Dodgers. Anderson is 2-2 with a 2.70 ERA in his past five starts with six walks and 32 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings. He’s 0-2 with a 5.56 ERA in four career starts against the Giants, including a no-decision May 20 at AT&T Park where he gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings as the Rockies lost 9-5.
The Rockies have won 14 of their past 16 games from the Giants (45-42) at Coors Field. The Rockies (43-43) have climbed back to .500 by winning five of their past six games. They have been getting outstanding starting pitching, the latest effort being seven scoreless innings Tuesday from Antonio Senzatela in his first start this season for the Rockies.
The Colorado starters have pitched well in six of the past eight games, going 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA in that stretch and allowing 12 earned runs and 31 hits in 50 1/3 innings with 11 walks and 41 strikeouts.
“We’re only going to go as far as they do,” Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “They’re pitching great. They’re giving the offense a chance. Quick innings, which is huge.”
