Pirates vs. Dodgers Preview: Bounce Back Game Ahead?

The Pittsburgh Pirates will turn to Paul Skenes against the LosAngeles Dodgers in hopes of snapping their five-game losing streak.

Things went from bad to worse for the Pittsburgh Pirates with their9-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

Now, the Pirates will turn to their budding star in Paul Skenes to tryand snap their five-game losing streak.

Little went right for Mitch Keller, as he pitched just four inningsand allowed seven runs, including home runs to Freddie Freeman andShohei Ohtani. The loss for Keller was his first since July 2 againstthe St. Louis Cardinals. Domingo Germán made his first appearance ofthe season in relief of Keller, pitching four innings and allowing tworuns.

Pittsburgh showed signs of life in the fifth inning after it scoredthree runs to trim the Dodgers’ lead to three. That ultimately was theclosest the Pirates got to tying things up.

Joey Bart went 1-for-5 and hit a three-run home run, which was hissecond straight game with a homer. Oneil Cruz was 3-for-5 with a homerun and two RBIs.

Skenes will make his second start of the season against the Dodgers.In his previous outing against Los Angeles on June 5, the 6-foot-6right-hander earned the win, pitching five innings, allowing six hits,including two home runs, three runs and he struck out eight batters.

The rookie sensation is 6-1 with a 1.99 earned run average in 14starts. Pittsburgh has gone 9-5 in games Skenes has started.

Los Angeles will counter with River Ryan, who is 1-0 with a 1.72 ERAin three starts.

Location: Dodger Stadium
Records: Dodger 67-49, Pirates 56-59
First pitch: 9:10 p.m. ET
TV: Dodgers – SportsNet LA. Pirates – SportsNet-PIT. National – MLBN(out-of-market only)
Radio: Dodgers: AM570, KTNQ 1020. Pirates: KDKA-FM 93.7.
Pirates vs. Dodgers Betting Odds via SI Sportsbook Spread: Pirates -1.5 (+150), Dodgers +1.5 (-188)
Total: Over 7.5 (-125), under 7.5 (+100)Moneyline: Dodgers -118, Pirates -110

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