PITTSBURGH PIRATES (1-2) vs. CINCINNATI REDS (2-1)
April 5, 2021 at Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH — GAME #4/ROAD #4
RHP JT BRUBAKER (1-3, 4.94 ERA in 2020) vs. RHP JOSÉ De LEÓN (0-0, 18.00 ERA in 2020)

THE PIRATES…have lost their last two games after beating the Cubs, 5-3, on Opening Day at Wrigley Field…Were 1-2 after three games in 2020 (1-3 after four).
BRU THE BUCKEYE: Bucco starter JT Brubaker was born in Springfield, OH, and is a 2013 graduate of Tecumseh High
School in New Carlise (about 70 miles north of Cincinnati)…He also pitched collegiately at the University of Akron before being
selected by the Pirates in the sixth round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft…Brubaker made one start in Cincinnati last
season and surrendered one run in 5.1ip while suffering a 1-0 loss to Luis Castillo on 9/16.
PHILTHY: Phillip Evans made his first start of the season Sunday afternoon and went 3-for-4 while playing third base…In his
11 starts with the Pirates last season, Evans hit .359 (14-for-39) with a homer and nine RBI…With the Bucs, he has hit .462
(12-for-26) in seven starts on the road and has gone 7-for-11 in his three games while batting fifth in the lineup.
THE RAP ON REYNOLDS: Bryan Reynolds has hit safely in each of the first three games this season (4-for-12)…He hit safely
in each of his first six career games played at Great American Ball Park (9-for-21, .429) and enters tonight’s action having
reached base safely in 10 of his 11 career starts in Cincinnati.
FINAL STOP – CINCINNATI: Pittsburgh’s season-opening six-game road trip concludes with this three-game series against
the Reds…The Bucs went 1-5 at Great American Ball Park in 2020, winning the first game on 8/13 before dropping each of
the last five…The Pirates are not scheduled to return to Cincinnati until August 5.
BULLISH PEN: Pittburgh’s bullpen has produced a 2.57 ERA (14.0ip/4er) in the first three games while striking out 19
batters…Among all Major League teams, only the Kansas City (24) and Colorado (22) relief pitchers have struck out more
batters than the Bucs pen.
ROSTER MOVE: Yesterday the Pirates placed infielder Ke’Bryan Hayes on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist strain and
selected infielder Wilmer Difo to the Major League roster…Difo has gone 5-for-13 in four career games played in Cincinnati.

PITCHERS AT THE PLATE: After using the designated hitter in 2020, the Bucco pitchers return to the batters box in 2021…As
a group, the Pittsburgh pitchers hit .145 (37-for-256) with 15 RBI in 2019…The last Pirates pitcher to record a hit was Alex
McRae on 9/28/19…The last Bucco hurler to homer was Steven Brault, who took Jesus Tinoco deep in Colorado on 9/1/19…
Entering tonight’s action, JT Brubaker has never received a big league at bat.
THE HOME OPENER: The Pirates are scheduled to play their first home game of the season at PNC Park on Thursday – against
the Cubs…It will mark the 25th time (first since a 1-0 win in 10 innings in 2005) in which the Pirates will host the Cubs in
their Home Opener…Game time is scheduled for 1:35…The National Anthem will be performed by 30-year Pirates season
ticket holder and 34-year Pittsburgh public school teacher Tim Pollack…God Bless America will be sung by Tech Sgt. Vannessa
Norris of the US Air Force.
HOMESTAND HIGHLIGHTS: The first homestand of the season is scheduled to begin with the Home Opener against the Cubs
Thursday afternoon…Following a day off Friday, the series with the Cubs continues Saturday and Sunday before the Padres
come to town for a four-game series beginning Monday night…The Pirates will now be starting their Sunday home games at
1:05pm for the first time since 1980 and weekday games in April, May and September are scheduled to start at 6:35pm.
SHELTY’S CREW: Manager Derek Shelton and his entire 2020 coaching staff have returned for a second season in 2021…
Christian Marrero has joined the staff as Assistant Hitting Coach…Returning coaches include Tarrik Brock (First Base),
Joey Cora (Third Base), Rick Eckstein (Hitting), Don Kelly (Bench), Oscar Marin (Pitching), Justin Meccage (Bullpen), Mike
Rabelo (Field Coordinator) and Glenn Sherlock…Catching coaches Herbie Andrade and Jordan Comadena have returned.
THE PIPELINE TO PITTSBURGH: The Pirates entered the 2021 campaign with the eighth-best minor league system in all of
baseball according to MLB Pipeline…It’s the club’s first time to be among the top 10 farm rankings since the beginning of
2017…Four members of the organization are currently among MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, led by third baseman Ke’Bryan
Hayes (#9) and followed by infielder Nick Gonzales (#43), RHP Quinn Priester (#52) and infielder Oneil Cruz (#64).
BIG LEAGUE ROSTER: Pitchers (14) – Tyler Anderson, David Bednar, JT Brubaker, Trevor Cahill, Kyle Crick, Michael Feliz, Clay Holmes, Sam Howard, Mitch Keller, Chad Kuhl, Luis Oviedo, Richard Rodríguez, Chris Stratton, Duane Underwood, Jr….
Catchers (2) – Michael Perez, Jacob Stallings…Infielders (6) – Wilmer Difo, Phillip Evans, Adam Frazier, Erik González, Colin
Moran, Kevin Newman…Outfielders (4) – Anthony Alford, Dustin Fowler, Gregory Polanco, Bryan Reynolds.
TAXI SQUAD: INF Rodolfo Castro, RHP Sean Poppen, LHP Chasen Shreve and C Andrew Susac.
SPRING FLING: The Pirates posted a 13-14-2 record in spring training action this year…Ke’Bryan Hayes lead all qualifying
Major League players with a .431 batting average and .463 OBP…Kevin Newman hit .606 (20-for-33) and did not strike out in
his 39 plate appearances; his .606 average was the highest in spring training since Houston’s Tony Eusebio also hit .606 (20-
for-33) in 1994…Gregory Polanco led the team in RBI (10)…Bryan Reynolds and Todd Frazier shared the lead in HR (3)…
Tyler Anderson led the staff in innings pitched (18.0) and shared the team lead in strikeouts (18) with David Bednar (8.2ip).

ON THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
April 5, 1989: Doug Drabek tossed a two-hit shutout to lead the Bucs to a 3-0 Opening Day win over the Expos at Olympic Stadium. Pittsburgh
collected a total of three hits in the game while handing Montreal starter Randy Johnson the loss. Sid Bream recorded the only extra-base hit
in the game, doubling in the fourth inning before later coming around to score the only run the Bucs would need.

UPCOMING GAMES AND PROBABLE PITCHERS

Tuesday at Cincinnati 6:40 RHP Trevor Cahill (1-2, 3.24 ERA in 2020) vs. LHP Wade Miley (0-3, 5.65 ERA in 2020) AT&T SportsNet
Wednesday at Cincinnati 12:35 RHP Chad Kuhl (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. RHP Luis Castillo (0-1, 21.60 ERA) AT&T SportsNet
Thursday vs. Chicago (NL) 1:35 TBA vs. LHP Tyler Anderson (0-1, 5.40 ERA) AT&T SportsNet
Friday in Pittsburgh OFF DAY
Saturday vs. Chicago (NL) 6:35 TBA vs. RHP Mitch Keller (0-1, 9.00 ERA) AT&T SportsNet

34 – RHP JT BRUBAKER

YEAR W-L ERA G GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB S

2020 1-3 4.94 11 9 0 0 47.1 48 27 26 17 48

2021 0-0 — 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0

M.L. CAREER 1-3 4.94 11 9 0 0 47.1 48 27 26 17 48

vs. CINCINNATI: 0-1 with a 1.69 ERA in one career start…Suffered a 1-0 loss to Luis Castillo last year on 9/16 at Great American Ball Park…He pitched 4.0 scoreless
frames to start the game before surrendering the only run of the game in the fifth inning.

DATE/OPP W/L IP H R ER BB SO PITCHES ERA SCORE

SPRING TRAINING
3/2 vs. Tigers L 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 13 9.00 1-6 L
3/7 vs. Orioles W 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 27 4.50 13-1 W
3/13 at Yankees L 2.0 5 4 4 0 2 49 9.00 5-7 L
3/19 Threw 67 pitches (4.0ip) in a B Game
3/24 vs. Braves ND 5.0 3 3 3 1 6 72 7.20 6-3 W
3/30 at Twins ND 5.0 1 1 1 2 4 74 5.40 1-1 T
TOTALS (2-1, 5.40 ERA) 15.0 12 9 9 3 13 302

CAREER BATTING: .000 (0-for-0) 0 2B 0 3B 0 HR 0 RBI 0 SACS
2021 BATTING: .000 (0-for-0) 0 2B 0 3B 0 HR 0 RBI 0 SACS

COURTESY PITTSBURGH PIRATES & MLBpressbox.com