Fastball

Matchup Between the Astros and Pirates on Monday Will Join Impressive Baseball History

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros will kick off a new series on Monday night, and they'll do so with a historic pitching matchup.

Brady Farkas

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) reacts after surrendering a game winning RBI single to St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Alec Burleson (41) during the ninth inning at PNC Park. St. Louis won 2-1.
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) reacts after surrendering a game winning RBI single to St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Alec Burleson (41) during the ninth inning at PNC Park. St. Louis won 2-1. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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The Pittsburgh Pirates will visit the Houston Astros on Monday night in the start of a series that has meaning for both teams.

The Pirates enter play at 53-52 and 2.0 games back in the National League wild card race while the Astros are 55-50 and in a tie for first place in the American League West. They are also just 1.5 games back of the AL wild card race, should they fall out of the division race at any point.

Not only is the series important, but the Monday pitching matchup is set to be historic as well, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

This will be the 6th matchup between SP who were drafted the previous year, joining:

8/15/02: Mark Prior & Kirk Saarloos
9/7/90: Ben McDonald & Joe Grahe
8/6/84: Roger Clemens & Carl Willis
9/3/73: Craig Swan & Dick Ruthven
9/24/67: Rich Nye & Gary Nolan

H/t @EliasSports

The Pirates will send Paul Skenes to the mound. The right-hander has taken baseball by storm after being taken No. 1 overall in the draft last year out of LSU. He's got 6-1 with a 1.93 ERA and earned the start for the National League in the All-Star Game.

The Astros will counter with right-hander Jake Bloss, who was taken in the third round of the 2023 draft out of Georgetown. Less productive than Skenes, he's gone 0-1 through three starts this year. He has a 6.94 ERA through just 11.2 innings.

First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET.


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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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