As Shohei Ohtani continues his attack on the record books, he will take the mound for the 11th time this season when the Los Angeles Dodgers face the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

Ohtani (6-2, 0.74 ERA) will oppose fellow right-hander Jared Jones (1-0, 4.82) of the Pirates as he continues not only his chase of a third consecutive National League MVP, but perhaps his first Cy Young Award.

Ohtani next will try to continue one of the best starts by any pitcher in major league history. His ERA is the third-best through the first 10 starts of a season, behind only Jacob deGrom (0.56 in 2021) and Juan Marichal (0.59 in 1966) since earned runs became a stat in 1913, according to MLB.com.

In his most recent start, Ohtani threw six shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk with six strikeouts, in a 7-0 win over Arizona last Wednesday. And his success on the mound has had no ill effects on his performance at the plate, as Ohtani is hitting .411 since May 12. His batting average has risen from .233 to .301.

Ohtani reached base five times in the Arizona game, joining Hod Eller (1920), Mel Parnell (1951) and Mel Stottlemyre (1964) as the only players who have done that and pitched six or more scoreless innings in the same game since 1900.

“I think a lot of starting pitchers, you feel your way into a game and you give up a couple early and you bear down,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I’ve noticed with Shohei, every run is a premium. He’s literally trying to throw a shutout every time he goes out there, where I don’t know if every starter has that mindset.”

Ohtani’s lone career start against the Pirates didn’t go well, though. He gave up five runs on six hits, including four home runs, despite striking out nine on July 21, 2023, as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.

The Pirates could use a similar performance in Ohtani’s PNC Park pitching debut as they try to snap a four-game skid.

Pittsburgh is banged-up, with center fielder Oneil Cruz dealing with a left hand laceration and rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin sidelined by a right forearm strain.

Griffin said to reporters on Tuesday that he was told by a doctor not to throw for two full weeks. According to Todd Tomczyk, the Pirates’ director of sports medicine, there’s no concern about Griffin needing surgery.

Pittsburgh’s bullpen continues to struggle after three relievers combined to allow 10 runs in the seventh inning on Tuesday night in a 12-3 loss to the Dodgers.

Jones will make his third start since returning from a 20-month absence due to elbow surgery. He bounced back from a rough first outing on May 29 by pitching five shutout innings and allowing four hits and two walks while striking out four last Thursday in a 5-1 win at Houston.

Jones pitched six shutout innings and allowed only three hits in his lone career start against the Dodgers — a 1-0 win — on June 4, 2024.

Jones, who grew up in Los Angeles County and attended Dodgers games, said recently that he was excited to face Ohtani.

“He’s been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year, so it’ll be a fun matchup,” Jones said.

In a move on Tuesday, the Pirates traded right-handed pitcher Carson Fulmer to the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations.

–Field Level Media

Jac Caglianone has been a key factor in fueling the Kansas City Royals’ successful start to June.

He also continues to fare well against the Texas Rangers.

After powering the Royals to a series-opening triumph over the visiting Rangers, Caglianone will look to help his team record a fourth straight victory on Wednesday night.

Kansas City entered June with a 22-37 record, and averaged 2.9 runs while losing 16 of its final 19 games in May. However, the Royals have averaged 5.3 runs and clubbed 10 homers while 6-2 in June.

“A lot of confidence, I think we’re not kind of letting previous days drag on into the next,” Caglianone told Royals.TV.

“Each day’s a new day. There’s plenty of new opportunities.”

Caglianone, the highly touted outfielder still trying to find his rhythm in his first full MLB season, was batting .236 as the calendar turned to June. Following a two-homer night that helped Kansas City overcome a 2-0 hole and win 5-3 over Texas on Tuesday, Caglianone is 10-for-21 with three home runs and seven RBIs in seven games this month.

He’s batting .348 in six career games versus Texas. Both of his two-home run games have come against the Rangers.

Caglianone, however, went 0-for-2 with a strikeout on May 29 against scheduled Texas starter MacKenzie Gore (4-5, 4.23 ERA), who was stellar against the Royals, allowing four hits and a walk over 6 1/3 scoreless innings of his team’s 9-1 victory. In two career starts versus Kansas City, the left-hander has yielded only one run over 13 1/3 innings for a 0.68 ERA.

However, Gore needs to rebound after he gave up four runs, nine hits and issued three first-inning walks over 4 2/3 of the Rangers’ 5-3 loss at St. Louis last week.

“It looked like maybe he was trying to overcook some of the balls to try to get a punchout, and then kind of left the balls up,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said.

Texas had won seven of nine prior to Tuesday’s defeat to close in on the .500 mark. The Rangers are 32-34 and haven’t hit .500 since they were 14-14 on April 26.

“Didn’t really think about (getting back to .500), just thinking about winning that first game of the series,” Schumaker, whose team went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, told Rangers.TV.

Josh Jung had two more hits for the Rangers in the series opener, raising his batting average to .316. He’s 8-for-18 with four runs scored in four games versus Kansas City this season.

Jung homered off scheduled Royals starter Seth Lugo (2-4, 3.91 ERA) during Texas’ 7-6 win on May 30.

Lugo recorded three straight quality starts, including that outing at Texas, in which he gave up three runs (one earned) and six hits while striking out six in six innings. However, that run ended Thursday, when the veteran right-hander yielded five earned runs and six hits, including three homers, over five innings of Kansas City’s 8-6 win at Minnesota.

Though the Rangers rallied to beat the Royals in Lugo’s most recent appearance against them, he’s 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in fgur career appearances (three starts) against Texas.

–Field Level Media

The St. Louis Cardinals enjoyed a stress-free victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday.

The Cardinals hope to combine timely hitting, strong defense and stellar pitching again Wednesday night when they visit the Mets for the second game of their three-game series.

St. Louis, which will attempt to match a season high with its sixth straight victory. has won three of the four meetings with the Mets so far. Following consecutive tight wins over the Cincinnati Reds to complete a three-game sweep, the Cardinals scored six runs off Freddy Peralta and cruised to a 7-0 win in the series opener.

Alec Burleson, who is hitting .389 in a nine-game hitting streak, belted a two-run homer and drove in three runs, and Ivan Herrera and Nathan Church collected three hits apiece. Church’s effort followed a brief stint on the injured list due to a sprained left shoulder, and he also made a basket catch while going against the wind in center field on Marcus Semien’s drive in the fourth.

“Coming off an off day and going to the Mets and giving them a shutout, it’s a great start,” Church said. “So, trying to get another one tomorrow.”

Jordan Walker also is coming off an RBI double and is up to 48 RBIs this season, three shy of his career high set in 2023 when he batted .276 in 117 games as a rookie.

New York is 7-4 in its past 11 games but turned in a dud after rookie Carson Benge went 5-for-5 in Sunday’s 7-3 win at San Diego. The Mets were held to five hits and lead the majors with 21 games of being held to five hits or fewer this season.

“We never want to start that way, especially me,” Peralta said. “We won the last game in San Diego and (came) from there, expecting after an off-day to start on the right foot.”

Juan Soto had a single on Tuesday, however the slugger is just 3-for-27 this month.

After getting six stellar innings from Dustin May, the Cardinals will turn to fellow right-hander Andre Pallante (6-4, 3.96 ERA) to start on Wednesday. Pallante is attempting to surpass his win total from last season when he went 6-15 in 31 starts.

Pallante has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven starts this season. He did so for the third time in four starts last Wednesday when he allowed one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings during a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Pallante’s only scoreless outing this season was against the Mets in St. Louis on March 31 when he allowed three hits. He is 1-2 with a 4.40 ERA in 11 career appearances (four starts) versus New York.

Christian Scott originally was slated to pitch Wednesday but will get the nod on Thursday afternoon. Instead, the Mets will use right-hander Austin Warren (1-2, 2.01) as an opener for the second time. Warren threw 19 pitches June 1 in Seattle ahead of Sean Manaea’s five innings.

Warren has allowed three hits over three scoreless innings in two relief appearances against the Cardinals.

Since Manaea pitched on Sunday, left-hander David Peterson is expected to serve as the bulk reliever. Peterson is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in six relief appearances after going 1-5 with a 7.56 ERA in seven starts.

Peterson last pitched May 31 when he threw 51 pitches in the final four innings of a 10-1 win over the Marlins.

–Field Level Media