Good afternoon from PNC Park where the Pirates (12-20) look to rebound against the Giants (21-11) after a tough 11-10 loss last night where the Bucs blew a 8-2 lead late in the game. Charlie Morton (0-4, 4.21 ERA) will look to end his streak of games with “big innings” against Tim Hudson (4-1, 2.17 ERA).
Leading Off
Clint Hurdle has confirmed that Wandy Rodriguez will make a rehab start at AA Altoona tonight. He is scheduled to go 6 innings or 90 pitches, whichever comes first.
Hurdle also announced that Travis Snider and Russell Martin had their suspension hearings today at PNC Park via teleconference. There is no word on MLB’s final ruling as of yet.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On Phil Irwin getting the call-up from AAA to the bullpen: “He has pitched well in his last couple of times out. He’s shown some improvement, got some experience when we had him here last year. Its an opportunity for him to give us length, which we’re going to need. We needed a pitching guy and he fit the criteria of what we needed to have in place for today’s game and tomorrow afternoon’s game.”
On the “Big inning” effecting Charlie Morton: “We always try to playback the innings when a pitcher allows a crooked number, which is what we call them. Pitchers are always looking to minimize damage of what might happen. Sometimes, they try to overcook a pitch and they leave it up and it gets thrown in the gap and a couple runs score which adds on sometimes. It’s balls finding holes, it’s a number of different variants. Charlie has taken it upon himself to shutdown innings after we score and obviously when you give up one you want to put your foot down there. The overall consistency to everything we’re doing is not where it needs to be. Everyone is aware of it, everyone wants to improve it and Charlie is a case in point, he will get a chance to do it tonight.”
Other Notes
— Josh Harrison has gone 6-for-12 with five runs scored the past three games as the Pirates leadoff hitter. He has six hits and a walk in his last 10 plate appearances and is hitting .393 (11-for-28) overall in his last 11 games with two doubles, two triples, a home run, thre RBI and seven runs scored.
— Starling Marte has swiped 11 consecutive bases and has been successful 16 times in his last 17 attempts, dating back to last season. Marte is currently tied for third in the National League with 11 stolen bases.
— The Pirates are batting .309 (60-for-194) in their last five games (2-3) with 15 doubles, four triples, three home runs and 31 runs scored. In that same time, the Bucs have hit .327 (18-for-55) with runners in scoring position.
Tonight’s Pirates Lineup
First pitch is set for 7:05.
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(Photo Credit: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
