With hope for future, Pirates close home schedule vs. Athletics

While the Pittsburgh Pirates are headed toward a second consecutive last-place finish in the National League Central, their young pitching staff offers hope for the future.

Before closing out the season with six road games, the Pirates (66-89) will face the visiting Athletics (73-82) in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday.

Pittsburgh recorded its MLB-best 18th shutout of the season on Saturday as rookie Bubba Chandler and two relievers combined on a one-hitter in a 2-0 victory. Nick Yorke and Bryan Reynolds homered to help the Pirates snap a five-game losing streak.

Jacob Wilson doubled in the second inning for the Athletics' lone hit.

Chandler (3-1) allowed one hit with six strikeouts over five innings in his third career start. The right-hander expressed his gratitude for the fans' support at PNC Park after his outing.

"It's really, really cool to go out there every couple days and have the opportunity to throw, and the fans here are great," Chandler said. "We want to win bad for these people. We want to be good. It's coming."

Before Pittsburgh won for just the second time in its last 14 games, general manager Ben Cherington talked about the team's recent slump.

"It's been really tough. I think that we have to win more games," said Cherington. "There are some things that have happened at the major league level this year that have been really good, but certainly not nearly enough."

The same could be said for the Athletics, who extended their streak of consecutive seasons with a losing record to four on Saturday.

Like Pittsburgh, the Athletics boast a number of promising young players that offer hope for next season. First baseman Nick Kurtz leads major league rookies in home runs (33), RBIs (81), runs (83), walks (60) and extra-base hits (60).

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay also has been impressed with rookie pitcher Luis Morales, who pitched six strong innings on Saturday in a losing effort.

"We were up against two really good young arms," Kotsay said. "But I thought it was a great night for Morales. Overall, he gave us an opportunity to win the game and continued to get better as the game went on. Another good start for him."

Morales (4-2) retired 11 of his final 12 batters faced, but the right-hander was disappointed with the outcome.

"It was a quality outing, but I didn't like it too much," Morales said. "I should have been able to hold them to zero runs, and I couldn't get it done."

The Athletics will send right-hander Mitch Spence (3-5, 4.48 ERA) to the mound in the series finale. He is making his second appearance since being recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Sept. 10.

Spence, 27, pitched in 29 games (seven starts) before he was sent to Las Vegas on July 10. He appeared as a reliever last Tuesday and pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings in a 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Pittsburgh will counter with right-hander Mike Burrows (2-4, 4.10), who allowed three runs over 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Washington Nationals last Sunday.

Burrows, 25, has allowed three earned runs or fewer in six straight starts dating back to Aug. 16. He is set to make his first career appearance against the Athletics.

--Field Level Media