Good afternoon from PNC Park where today the Pirates look to build on last night’s 6-5 walk-off victory over the Reds. Edinson Volquez (1-0, 1.71 ERA) faces Johnny Cueto (1-2, 1.50 ERA) in Cueto’s first appearance at PNC since last October’s NL Wild Card game.
Suspensions Handed Out
The MLB has announced the suspensions of players involved in Sunday’s Easter Brawl during the third inning of the Pirates-Brewers matchup. Martin Maldonado was issued a 5-game suspension for striking Travis Snider. Carlos Gomez was issued a 3-game suspension for aiding in starting the brawl. Travis Snider was given a 2-game suspension for his actions on Carlos Gomez and Russell Martin was given a 1-game suspension for his actions. All were fined.
Snider, Martin and Gomez will appeal their suspensions. Maldonado will begin his suspension tonight.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On Andrew McCutchen getting pitched differently this season — “He’s been pitched differently. This has been the most significant change since I’ve been here, seeing about they way they’re going at it. I think he’s done well from a discipline standpoint because he’s taking his walks. He hasn’t done a lot of chasing outside of the strikezone. He’s been swinging at balls that are strikes. He’s not in the place he want’s to be or is going to get to. The longer he doesn’t get hot, the closer he’s coming to getting hot. Being on base five times [last night] is going to bode well.”
On Ike Davis’s ability to use the opposite field more — “I think there has been a commitment by Ike to try and tighten things up based on what the league’s done to him over the years. He’s smart enough that way and you’re big and you’re strong and can pull the ball and hit it a long way to the dead-pull field. He’s figuring things out. He talked about commitment he made later in his career than earlier and now where he is right now. That’s going to be part of his game. Anytime a good hitter can take a fastball from his pull-field gap to the opposite field line, stay in that range with the fastball then take the slow stuff and hit that into the pull-field with power. That’s the guy who Ike is.”
Other Notes
— Former Red Edinson Volquez enters tonight’s game ranked eighth in the National League with a 1.71 ERA and has held opponents to a .213 batting average. He pitched a season-high 7 innings while winning his last start on Thursday.
— Since the inception of the NL Central in 1994, Volquez is tied with Lance Lynn for the second-highest winning percentage against teams from within the division (minimum of 200 IN), going 23-8 (.742 winning percentage) in 54 games against the NL Central in that time. Ramon Martinez and his 27-8 (.771) mark is tops on the list.
— Since the start of last season, Justin Wilson has the third-lowest ERA among National League left-handed relievers (2.10) while Tony Watson ranks fifth with a 2.34 ERA in that time. Dating back to August 6, Tony has been scored upon just twice in 29 appearances (29 1/3 IN/2 ER) while Wilson has gone 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA (45 IN/8 ER) in 37 games at PNC Park.
Tonight’s Pirates Lineup
First pitch is set for 7:05.
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(Photo Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
