Good afternoon from PNC Park where the Pirates (12-18) look to sweep the Blue Jays (13-17) on marathon day. Edinson Volquez (1-2, 3.21 ERA) will look to bounce back from his defeat in St. Louis against Dustin McGowan (1-1, 5.87 ERA).
Leading Off
Clint Hurdle has announced that Jeff Locke will start tomorrow against the Giants. He also mentioned that Wandy Rodriguez has not had a setback in his rehab.
“There’s no setback, he needs more time,” said Hurdle. “He is going to make another minor league start. Wandy, very unselfishly, just made sense to him to go out pitch again, to go through all of his pitches, try to push it closer to 100 (pitches) and see where he can take it.”
That rehab start is penciled in for May 6th.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On how tough it is to be bench player and pinch-hit: “Unless you’ve done it, you have no idea and there’s players that don’t have any idea because that’s not the part of the game that they play. I can only speak for baseball. The hardest thing to do in baseball is to be a bench player, to be a good one cause you don’t know when you’re going to play and a lot of times it can be for finishing off games then it’s matchups.”
Other Notes
— Andrew McCutchen has posted a .382 career average (60-for-157) with 11 doubles, two triples, four homers and 30 RBI in 44 career games against American League teams at PNC Park. Since going hitless in four at bats on June 24, 2012 vs. the Tigers at PNC Park, McCutchen has gone 19-for-43 (.442) in his last 11 home games against the American League.
— Neil Walker has recorded three straight multi-hit games, having gone 7-for-10 with three RBI and four runs scored in the last three games. He has reached base safely in 14 of his last 17 plate appearances (five walks, seven hits, two HBP) and has gone 23-for-55 (.418) with six doubles, a triple, three homers and nine RBI in his last 16 interleague games. Walker also enters today’s action leading all National League second basemen with six home runs.
— Pedro Alvarez has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games against American League teams, going 25-for-63 (.397) with six doubles, five home runs and 14 RBI. Alvarez ranks third all-time in Pirates history with 12 career home runs in interleague play, trailing only Brian Giles and Kevin Young (17 apiece).
Today’s Pirates Lineup
First pitch is set for 1:35.
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(Photo Credit: Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
