PNC Park — The Pirates (54 – 36), fresh off of a 5 – 0 victory against Oakland on Wednesday, are back at PNC to finish the first half off against the Mets (40 – 48) in the first of three starting tonight. Charlie Morton (1 – 2, 3.38 ERA) will face Jeremy Hefner (4 – 6, 3.39 ERA).
Leading Off
— Pedro Alvarez will now be participating in Mondays All-Star Home Run Derby (8pm, ESPN) due to Carlos Gonzalez pulling out due to a finger injury. He is unsure on who will be throwing to him yet.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On if Hurdle was happy Pedro is participating in the Derby – “Sure, I was like ‘Yeah!’ It’s out of our control. I really believe that everything happens for a reason. He wasn’t picked initially for a reason. Everyone got to gyrate and throw their hands up in the air and deal with their angst and all of a sudden, now he’s on. I’m just enjoying the ride.”
On if he will watch the Derby – “We will watch. We watched last year because McCutchen was in it. He’s got his number one fan, at least in our household, Mattie is going to have her jersey on. She’ll be ramped up, she’ll be ready to go so, yeah we’ll watch it.”
On the progress of Neil Walker’s injury — “Talked to him yesterday and I think minimal. We won’t know until today to see what he’s capable, physically, to do today. He’s got some time now.”
Other Notes
— The Pirates acquired 1B/OF Russ Canzler from the Orioles in exchange for RHP Tim Alderson. Canzler hit .276 (89-for-323) with 15 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs, 49 RBI and 46 runs scored in 86 games this season for Triple-A Norfolk of the International League.
— Starling Marte (103 Hits) and Andrew McCutchen (101 Hits) are the first pair of Pirates to teammates to each register 100 hits before the All-Star break since Omar Moreno and Dave Parker did it in 1979. (Courtesy: Elias)
— The Pirates pitching staff posted their Major League leading 13th shutout Wednesday, the most by the club in one season since 2005 when that team recorded 14 shutouts. It was also the eighth blanking of the season by the Bucco staff at PNC Park, where the club has posted a 2.67 ERA (439.0 IP / 130 ER) and a .220 batting average against.
First pitch is set for around 7:05.
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(Photo Credit: Gene J. Puskar)
