New-look Pirates vie for series sweep of Astros

After executing several trades over the past couple of days to fortify their roster and confirm a commitment to pursue a postseason berth, the Pittsburgh Pirates doubled up on good news by claiming a 6-2 victory over the host Houston Astros on Tuesday.

The Pirates will enter the finale of the three-game interleague series on Wednesday with reinforcements to the pitching staff, notably left-handed relievers Josh Walker and Jalen Beeks, and their lineup after acquiring utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Toronto Blue Jays and outfielder Bryan De La Cruz from the Miami Marlins.

Kiner-Falefa comes with the pedigree of adroitly manning several positions.

"If you talk to anyone about him, they're going to tell you he's one of the best teammates they've been a part of," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Kiner-Falefa. "This guy has played all over the field ... has won a Gold Glove (in 2020 playing third base with the Texas Rangers).

"You know how much I love versatility within a player. To add versatility and then he's had a really good offensive year on top of it, that is something that was important to us."

De La Cruz produced a .245/.289/.417 slash line with 18 home runs and 51 RBIs for the Marlins. His addition adds some needed power to the Pirates' outfield mix.

"He's got 18 pops," Shelton said. "The guy has the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark. Both guys (are) under control, so we're talking not only for this year but for future (years). We've talked about wanting to lengthen out our lineup, and I think we've shown we were able to do that."

The Pirates will turn to right-hander Jake Woodford (0-2, 10.80 ERA) on Wednesday.

Woodford, 27, was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday. He was designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox in June and signed to a minor-league deal by the Pirates.

Woodford received a no-decision after allowing four runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings in his lone career encounter versus Houston on June 29, 2023, when he pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Left-hander Framber Valdez (9-5, 3.43) is scheduled to start the series finale for the Astros.

Valdez matched his season high of 10 strikeouts against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday while allowing four hits and two walks over 6 1/3 shutout innings in a 5-0 win. That marked the Astros' sixth consecutive victory when Valdez (4-0, 2.49 ERA in that stretch) starts. The outing was his third scoreless appearance this season and 11th quality start. Valdez also moved past Jim Deshaies and into fifth place in franchise history for wins by a left-hander with 62.

Valdez is 1-1 with a 7.20 ERA in two career starts against the Pirates. In his previous start against Pittsburgh, he allowed two runs on three hits and five walks with five strikeouts over seven innings in an 8-2 road victory on April 10, 2023.

The Astros committed three errors in Tuesday's loss. They not only dropped the series to the Pirates, but they surrendered first place in the American League West back to the Seattle Mariners, who defeated the Boston Red Sox 10-6 on Tuesday.

The trade deadline resulted in the Astros losing two players off their active roster -- rookies Jake Bloss and Joey Loperfido -- while left-handers Yusei Kikuchi and Caleb Ferguson, acquired from the Blue Jays and Yankees, respectively, had yet to arrive in Houston.

Whether those transactions proved a distraction is unknown. What the Astros can ill-afford is a loss in the series finale with the Pirates and a four-game losing skid entering Thursday's day off.

"You forget about (the loss) and you get ready for (Wednesday)," Astros manager Joe Espada said.

--Field Level Media