Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Yankees Game 1

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
PIT	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	2	5	7	0
NYY	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	6	0

Mitch Keller (6-7, 4.93 ERA) got the ball for the opener against a Yankees ace still finding his footing in Gerrit Cole (3-5, 3.90 ERA), who's pitching through his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. Cole's last time out he was actually sharp, striking out 8 over 6 innings against the Dodgers and still taking the loss, so his stuff isn't the issue right now — it's the results around him.

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FINAL

Spread

ML

Total

Pirates(52-49)

PLWLW

5

+1.5-113+178o9.5+127

Yankees(56-44)

PWWLP

3

-1.5+127-156u9.5-112

Best BetYankees -182

Postgame

The Yankees lost outright 3-5, so the moneyline pick missed even with Cole's strikeout stuff intact.

Pregame

New York was the short favorite here on the strength of Cole's stuff and home-field advantage, but the Yankees offense went cold outside one 7th-inning burst and that was the whole ballgame. Cole's ledger since returning from Tommy John surgery shows swing-and-miss stuff without matching results, and this was another example — solid process, no payoff.

Both rotations are running thin behind their starters. New York is without Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, and the middle of the Yankees lineup has been without Aaron Judge since early June with a rib injury that has him targeting a return closer to the stretch run than this week. Pittsburgh's issues are more scattered — Oneil Cruz, Konnor Griffin and Endy Rodriguez are all out — but the Pirates have leaned on Bryan Reynolds and Brandon Lowe to cover the gap, and it showed up again Wednesday.

Mitch Keller

(6-8)·5.29 ERA

Jul 9 vs Braves

L

3.0IP

3ER

3K

2BB

72P

Gerrit Cole

(5-5)·3.42 ERA

Jul 17 vs Dodgers

L

6.0IP

2ER

8K

1BB

103P

Neither lineup did much for six innings. This one turned into exactly the kind of grind-it-out game that favors a team getting timely contact over one waiting for a haymaker, and Pittsburgh was the team doing the grinding.

The Pirates scratched across single runs early and let it snowball late, plating 2 in the top of the 9th to put the game away after the Yankees had briefly tied things up with a 3-run 7th. New York's only real damage came in that one inning — the rest of the line was zeros across the board, which is the story of a Yankees offense still missing its two middle-of-the-order bats.

Both clubs are hovering around .500 over their last five, and both rosters are stretched by injuries at the moment, which made this one closer to a coin flip than the moneyline suggested. Pittsburgh has actually been the better offensive team of late even with regulars out, and Wednesday was more evidence of that.

Pittsburgh Pirates

(52-49)

Jul 21P@ Yankees0-0

Jul 20L@ Yankees5-8

Jul 19W@ Guardians7-1

Jul 18L@ Guardians3-5

Jul 18W@ Guardians7-1

New York Yankees

(56-44)

Jul 21Pvs Pirates0-0

Jul 20Wvs Pirates8-5

Jul 19Wvs Dodgers2-1

Jul 19Lvs Dodgers2-8

Jul 19Pvs Dodgers0-0

Keller's start line will matter more once the box score fills in, but the bigger point is that Pittsburgh got enough from its bullpen and lineup depth to hang a loss on Cole in a game the Yankees were favored to win outright. It's a fitting result for a Pirates team whose offense has carried a shakier rotation for most of the summer.

Pittsburgh Pirates

(6)

• 10-Day-ILSpencer Horwitz (1B) — Horwitz (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment with Single-A Bradenton on Tuesday, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.07/21
• 10-Day-ILEndy Rodriguez (C) — Rodriguez (hip) is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game versus Atlanta.07/08
• 15-Day-ILEvan Sisk (RP) — Sisk was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday with left elbow inflammation, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.07/04
• 60-Day-ILChris Devenski (RP) — Devenski (illness) was sent to the rookie-level Florida Complex League on Tuesday to begin a rehab assignment.07/21
• 60-Day-ILOneil Cruz (CF) — The Pirates transferred Cruz (hand) to the 60-day injured list Saturday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.07/18
• 60-Day-ILKonnor Griffin (SS) — The Pirates transferred Griffin (finger) to the 60-day injured list Saturday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.07/11

New York Yankees

(5)

• 10-Day-ILGiancarlo Stanton (DH) — Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters Monday that Stanton has "no timeline" to start a minor-league rehab assignment, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.07/20
• 15-Day-ILMax Fried (SP) — Fried (elbow) is expected to be reinstated from the 15-day injured list and start Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Pirates, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.07/21
• 15-Day-ILCarlos Rodon (SP) — Rodon (elbow) received a second round of injections after throwing about 10 pitches off a mound Friday and could progress to a full bullpen session this week, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.07/19
• 60-Day-ILAaron Judge (RF) — Manager Aaron Boone said Saturday that a specialist determined that Judge (ribs) is not yet ready to resume baseball activities, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.07/18
• 60-Day-ILClarke Schmidt (SP) — Schmidt (elbow) will throw live batting practice Saturday, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.07/17