Kuzul

In a battle of the long ball vs. small ball, the Pittsburgh Pirates picked up a 10-8 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night in Turner Field. 

With the victory, the Pirates won their fourth game in a row. They have also won 12 of their last 14. 

The hot streak has helped Pittsburgh to gain some ground on the St. Louis Cardinals, who still lead the NL Central by six games. 

The pitching for Pittsburgh struggled and sloppy defense resulted in three errors. However, the potent Pirate offense masked the deficiencies for Pittsburgh.

Neil Walker and Starling Marte both blasted homers, leading to five runs. Francisco Cervelli was the star of the evening for Pittsburgh, collecting four hits and driving in two runs of his own. 

For Atlanta, the offense was just as potent. The Braves played their typical brand of small ball to put up eight runs.

The offense just wasn’t enough to overcome a rough outing from the Atlanta bullpen, which gave up six earned runs over the final four innings.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Atlanta, who currently sits in third place in the NL East. 

The second game of the three-game series is scheduled for tomorrow 7:10 p.m. ET. The Pirates try to capture the series win as the Braves look to bounce back at home. 

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On Tuesday night, the Texas Rangers (26-25) will host the Chicago White Sox (23-26) in the first game of a three-game series at Globe Life Park. 

For the Rangers, Colby Lewis will be taking the mound to start. Lewis comes into the game with a 4-3 record and 4.70 ERA. He will look to rebound from his last start, in which he gave up 10 runs in only 2.2 innings to the Cleveland Indians. 

Chicago will be sending out Jeff Samardzija to start tonight’s game as the veteran right-hander looks to improve his 4-2 record and avoid his first loss since April 29.  

Texas will be without third baseman Adrian Beltre, who is out with a sprained thumb. Texas will look for slugger Prince Fielder to continue his hot hitting. 

The Rangers will also be without cleanup hitter Josh Hamilton, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. 

The game could potentially feature the MLB debut of highly touted prospect Joey Gallo, who will likely fill in for Beltre, according to Mason Robinson of MiLB.com. In 34 games in the minors this year, Gallo batted .314 with nine homers and 31 RBI.

For Chicago, José Abreu will miss his third consecutive game with an injured right index finger according to Darryl Von Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Adam Laroche will start in his place at first base. 

The White Sox hope to use this game to get on track as they look to get into the thick of things in the competitive AL Central. The Rangers will try to extend their three-game winning streak and look to move up in the AL West. 

White Sox Vs. Rangers is set to begin at 8:05 p.m. ET. Check back on this page for live updates and analysis throughout the game. 

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