Good afternoon and Happy 4th of July from PNC Park where this evening the Pirates (44-41) begin a three-game set against the cross-state rival Phillies (37-48). Gerrit Cole (6-4, 4.02 ERA) will look to rebound from his previous start against Roberto Hernandez (3-7, 4.26 ERA).
Hurdle’s Quotes
On sitting most of his LH hitters against RHP Hernandez: “It’s about a 50-point spread (RH vs. LF avg.). The walk-to-strikeout’s different. The contact, some other indicators. I just thought it would be a good matchup for us to try and get it that way. This is a guy you need to get up in the zone. We are going to look for balls to hit, but we gotta make sure this guy can lock in and throw some strikes because you have a chance of moving him and chasing him a little bit early and jack his pitch-count up just based on the history of what we’ve seen with him, especially this year.”
On Cole rebounding from his last start: “He needs to nail down his fastball command. When you get into some leverage counts, use the spin, use the changeup. I think we ran to the breaking stuff way too quick last time, tried to come out and pitch after being out that long. We want him to get out there and be aggressive with the fastball in both sides of the zone. With the running game, people are on, just slow down. They’re not going to disappear. just make a pitch to get them off. Brand new experience for him, though. Him being out that long, coming back. The biggest takeaway was the health. He felt strong afterwards the next day in the bullpen session and all of that. So, I’m looking forward for him to get out there and getting into a much more confident, comfortable position today.”
Other Notes
— Today marks the second straight year in which Pittsburgh has hosted Philadelphia on Independence Day and the fourth time at PNC Park (also 2005 and 2010). Since divisional play began in 1969, the Pirates and Phillies have met five previous times on July 4, and they have all been in Pittsburgh (also 1976 and 1995 at Three Rivers Stadium).
— In 46 games since his average bottomed out at .161 on 5/7, Jordy Mercer is hitting .280 (47-for-168) with six home runs and 18 RBI. His .277 batting average since 5/9 ranks third among National League shortstops and Mercer led N.L. shortstops with five home runs hit during the month of May. Jordy has gone 5-for-8 in his first three games this month.
— Starling Marte picked up his 20th stolen base of the season Thursday night. He swiped 28 bases prior to the All-Star break last season and is the first Pittsburgh player since Tony Womack in 1997-1998 to steal 20 bases or more in consecutive seasons prior to the Midsummer Classic.
Tonight’s Pirates Lineup
First pitch is set for 5:05.
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(Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire – USA Today Sports)
