Crowe expected to start as Pittsburgh hosts New York

Updated Jul. 17, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

New York Mets (47-41, first in the NL East) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (35-56, fifth in the NL Central)

Pittsburgh; Saturday, 7:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Tylor Megill (0-0, 3.50 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 26 strikeouts) Pirates: Wil Crowe (1-5, 6.06 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 50 strikeouts)

LINE: Pirates +151, Mets -173; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Pete Alonso and the Mets will take on the Pirates Saturday.

The Pirates are 20-25 in home games in 2020. Pittsburgh has a team on-base percentage of .304, led by Adam Frazier with a mark of .391.

The Mets are 19-27 on the road. New York has slugged .370 this season. Pete Alonso leads the club with a .484 slugging percentage, including 29 extra-base hits and 17 home runs.

The Pirates won the last meeting 4-1. Chad Kuhl secured his third victory and Wilmer Difo went 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for Pittsburgh. Marcus Stroman took his eighth loss for New York.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with 52 RBIs and is batting .302.

Alonso leads the Mets with 17 home runs and has 49 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 6-4, .291 batting average, 5.36 ERA, outscored by 10 runs

Mets: 5-5, .237 batting average, 4.44 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs

INJURIES: Pirates: Duane Underwood Jr.: (side), Jose Soriano: (elbow), Luis Oviedo: (quad), Sam Howard: (oblique), Blake Cederlind: (elbow), Trevor Cahill: (calf), Steven Brault: (lat strain), Ka'ai Tom: (back), Gregory Polanco: (hip), Colin Moran: (wrist), Erik Gonzalez: (side).

Mets: Jordan Yamamoto: (shoulder), Noah Syndergaard: (elbow), Sean Reid-Foley: (elbow), David Peterson: (side), Corey Oswalt: (knee), Joey Lucchesi: (elbow), Tommy Hunter: (back), Robert Gsellman: (lat strain), Carlos Carrasco: (hamstring), Dellin Betances: (shoulder), Jose Martinez: (knee).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.