CINCINNATI — The Pirates have not lost a series since Sept. 2-5 against the Chicago Cubs. For at least another couple of days, that streak will live on.
That isn’t because the Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds in their series finale Wednesday, though. The mini-streak continues because the teams didn’t even play.
Persistent rain showers at Great American Ball Park forced the Pirates and Reds to postpone the rubber match of their three-game series. It has now been moved to next Monday, Sept. 27, at 1:10 p.m., which was a mutual off day for the two teams.
That also means that the Pirates’ road trip, which began last Friday in Miami, will now extend into an 11-day jaunt, with the team set to begin a four-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.
The Pirates were originally planning on starting right-hander Connor Overton in Wednesday’s game and right-hander Wil Crowe in the series opener with the Phillies. It would have been Overton’s second start with the Pirates, though it also probably would have been a bullpen game. That’s to be expected, since Overton is not stretched out to a full starter’s workload right now — he threw three innings on 42 pitches in his first start. He also pitched a scoreless inning Monday.
After the postponement, however, the Pirates opted to push all of that back. Overton will now start Thursday. Friday’s starter is to be announced, and Crowe will go Saturday. As for that Friday TBA, right-hander Miguel Yajure, the Pirates’ No. 24 prospect, and Tanner Anderson are both on the taxi squad for this road trip and are plenty capable of starting games. Yajure has done so twice for the team this season, allowing four earned runs in 9 1/3 innings.
In any case, Wednesday now represents the final off day of the Pirates’ season. From here on out, they will play 11 games in 11 days starting Thursday, finishing their season with a six-game homestand against the Chicago Cubs and Reds.
Any tickets purchased for the rained out game at Great American Ball Park will be valid for entry to the Monday afternoon make-up game.
