Good afternoon from PNC Park where the Pirates (41-39) take on the Mets (36-44) in the third game of a four-game set. Gerrit Cole (6-3, 3.64 ERA) will be making his first start since being reinstated from the DL and will face Jonathon Niese (4-4, 2.78 ERA).
— To make room for Cole on the active roster, Brandon Cumpton has been optioned to AAA Indianapolis.
“You have no need to hang your head,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Guys are going to hug you and tell you great job and they will look forward to you coming back. Sometimes when you go it’s ‘hey, see ya’. There won’t be a ‘hey, see ya’ from one man out there this time when you walk out. You met the demands, you picked up the club, you made a difference.”
— Ernesto Frieri has made it to the ballpark and will be available in the bullpen tonight. He was traded from the Angels to the Pirates last night in exchange for Jason Grilli.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On how he plans to use Frieri: “I plan on getting him involved as soon as possible and we’ve got some defined roles out there. Melancon closes. When Melancon is unavailable, Watson closes. Hughes is a back-end guy, Wilson is a back-end guy. This guy has every opportunity to be a back-end guy. He’s been through similar situations like what Jason has experienced this year. We might look for an opportunity if it presents itself earlier than later to get him into a non-leverage situation. Based on what we have available in the bullpen, Hughes being down, he’s here to pitch.”
On his expectations for Cole’s first start off the DL tonight: “Based on his command. I think his conditioning has stayed strong. We did run him to 84 pitches in the sim game, so, is he capable of throwing 100 pitches today? I would think that would be a possibility. There’s a chance. I feel comfortable giving him the ball and seeing how far he can take it.”
Other Notes
— Andrew McCutchen leads the National League with 54 walks. The club record for most walks prior to the All-Star break is 63, set by Arky Vaughan in 1936 and matched by Ralph Kiner in 1950 and again in 1952.
— As a part of the Heritage Weekend Celebration, the Pirates and Mets this afternoon will pay tribute to the Negro Leagues with Negro League uniforms; the Pirates honoring the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Mets the Brooklyn Royal Giants.
— Last night’s two-out, game-winning double in the 11th inning marked the third career walkoff hit for Josh Harrison (also 5/13/12 and 8/6/13) and the seventh for the Pirates this season — tops in the Major Leagues.
First pitch is set for 4:05.
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(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
