The Pittsburgh Pirates have struggled to start the season on a productive note, but signs of life from the offense have the team aiming to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies who are currently tied for the worst record in the major leagues. The Pirates started the year off looking like they were headed for a similar fate with a 12-15 start, but things are starting to move for Pittsburgh as they look to beat the Phillies on Thursday.
The Pirates started 2015 batting just .226 while averaging a mere 3.5 runs per game. That resulted in a five-game losing streak before the team managed to turn things around and win five of their last six games. Two of those were against the Phillies and they aim to make three on Thursday. The Pirates did struggle to get the win on Wednesday. The team only recorded six hits with 11 strikeouts, but the struggles of the Phillies were worse and the Pirates managed to win.
A positive for Pittsburgh has been the rise of Andrew McCutchen who struggled at the start of the year. However, things have turned around and he is now 10 for 25 with six RBIs and a home run in his last seven games. That has helped the Pirates get things moving on offense and now Vnce Worley takes the mound for a sweep. The pitcher is 2-2 with a 4.63 ERA on the season. Worley struggled in his last start allowing five runs and nine hits against the St. Louis Cardinals. He has only faced the Philadelphia Phillies once since leaving the team. He gave up three runs over five innings back on Sept. 10.
The Phillies will put Aaron Harang on the mound in hopes of getting the team a win. He gave up two earned runs over seven innings in a loss to the New York Mets, but got no run support to go along with it. He has been strong while playing at home with a 0.84 ERA in three outings. He has given up just 12 hits in 21 1/3 innings of play at Citizens Bank Park.
