Good afternoon from PNC Park where the Pirates (62-55) look to right the ship against the Tigers (63-52). Jeff Locke (3-3, 3.78 ERA) will look to keep the Bucs in it against Justin Verlander (10-10, 4.57 ERA).
Hurdle’s Quotes
On Pedro at first : “He’s working his backside off to find a level of comfort to go ahead and say ‘okay, I’m ready to go over there in a Major League game.’, so I think we’re really close to that. He’s putting the work in and we’re appreciative of it and there will be a day real soon when you’ll see him there. I’m comfortable with the fact that he’s athletic, he’s willing to work. I do believe there’s a point in time when you’ve got to find out where you are. You can do all the practice drills you want and when you get into the game, you also have the opportunity to identify maybe some other areas that you have to work or put a little attention on to find out where the positive strides have been made.”
On making the turnaround from playing a 19 inning game the prior night: “In Atlanta, we won the next night and in the 19 inning game in St. Louis, we lost the next night in San Diego. They’ve got a guy named Verlander on the mound that just kind of makes it a different situation. He’s more than capable of going out and throwing a boatload of innings. We need to challenge him. It could be advantageous if we could find a way to get him out earlier than he would like or what they would like to take him out based on the bullpen use yesterday to the degree of competitiveness. These guys are going to play. I don’t think our guys were really so over-fatigued that it swung the game in the other team’s direction right off the bat. I think sometimes it’s a more interesting topic to talk about than it is when you actually go out and play.”
On if the team has reached a “crossroads” with the short bench and the team playing well: “We’ve been facing crossroads here at a certain point in time every month we’ve come across, just based on some of the questions I’ve gotten in this room. That’s what the season brings you. The season brings you challenges throughout. This is a challenging time, no doubt, but I don’t think we need to make any more of it than what we’ve got in our hands and that is what this team has done so well. We focus on today. We’re going to do everything we can to score one more run than the other team today with the people we have available.”
Other Notes
— The Pirates begin a four-game, home-and-home series tonight in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have gone 9-5 all-time against the Tigers at PNC Park, including wins in four of the last five games and in eight of the last 10.
— The 37 caught stealings recorded by Pittsburgh’s pitchers and catchers this season rank second in the Majors behind the Tigers (38). Russell Martin leads all National League catchers with 19 caught stealings.
— Gregory Polanco has hit safely in three of his last four games, going 7-for-16 (.438) with three doubles, a home run and seven RBI. He homered yesterday and is hitting .371 (9-f0r-17) in his last five starts.
Tonight’s Pirates Lineup
First pitch is set for 7:05.
Follow @TBerardi_OVA
(Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
