Two struggling teams meet in Friday night opener between Phils and Pirates

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Phils and Bucs both struggling as they open series on Friday night

The Pennsylvania in-state rivalry between the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates has lost much of its luster since the Bucs were moved to the NL Central Division for the 1994 season.

Prior to that time it was one of baseball’s best and most intense. The Pirates joined the National League out in the western part of Pennsylvania for the 1887 season, four years after the Phillies own birth in the southeast corner of the Commonwealth.

In 1969, Major League Baseball split both the National and American Leagues into two divisions each for the first time. The Phillies and Pirates were placed into the NL East Division, and the rivalry really began to heat up when the Phillies emerged as a contender in the mid-1970’s.

During the 70’s, the Pirates captured the NL East crown six times with the Phillies winning the division in three of the other four years. Led by the legendary Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh won the 1971 World Series. Then in 1979 their “We Are Family” squad led by Willie Stargell won the 1979 World Series. The Phillies would take their first Fall Classic a year later.

This year, the Pirates (45-50) and Phillies (50-47) are both on the outside looking in at the National League Wildcard playoff race. The Phillies are just a half-game out, while the Bucs 4.5 back with a half-dozen clubs ahead of them.

Meeting for three games on what promises to be a steaming hot weather weekend in Pittsburgh, both teams are desperate to put as many games into the win column as possible.

Phillies series opposition preview: Pittsburgh Pirates

Phillies and Pirates rekindle cross-state rivalry with weekend series

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Phillies will spend a steaming hot July weekend at PNC Park

The Philadelphia Phillies (50-47) will be spending the next three days at one of the most beautiful ballparks in the game when they visit the Pittsburgh Pirates (45-50) for a weekend series.

The Pirates are struggling, losers in five of their last six and seven of their last 10 games. Though just 6.5 games out in the NL Central Division standings, the Bucs have not been able to rise above fourth place in their division since the start of June. They have not won more than three straight since mid-April.

For their part, the Phillies enter the series coming off a 2-2 split with the best team in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, but are still struggling mightily themselves to put back together what once appeared to be a winning season.

The Phillies went 3-4 on their just completed home stand in which they faced two tough teams in the Dodgers and division-rival Washington Nationals. They are just 7-9 going back over the last three weeks, since ending a four-game winning streak. While nine games over the .500 mark at home, they have fashioned only a 20-26 record on the road

Head-to-head, the Phillies won six of the seven games between the two clubs a year ago. However, that was the first time since their record-setting 2011 campaign that they had a winning seasonal mark against the Pirates.

Pittsburgh is 17th in MLB in runs per game (4.74), just behind the Phillies (4.84) who rank 15th. The Pirates are 13th among the 15 teams in the National League in home runs, 10th in stolen bases, and 9th in OPS. The Pittsburgh pitching staff is collectively ranked at 13th in the NL in both batting average and OPS against, ninth in strikeouts.

With the hot summer weather fully entrenched here in the eastern United States, and with two struggling pitching staffs, this could end up a high-scoring series. That is especially so if the Phillies do not get improved starting pitching, and if they can get into the Pirates bullpen by the middle innings.