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The Pirates (88 – 66) look to bounce back after another stunning loss to the Reds (88 – 66). A.J. Burnett (8 – 11, 3.43 ERA) faces Homer Bailey (11 – 10, 3.40 ERA)
Leading Off
With five games remaining between the Pirates and Reds, the season series stands at 7 – 7. If neither can catch the Cardinals, the winner of the season series will host the wild card game.
Hurdle’s Quotes
On having a guy like A.J. Burnett pitch in a bounce back game after a tough loss — “He’s pitching tonight, so that’s where we need him to be. He’s got layers of experience, that always helps. He’s very competitive, always pitches with an edge. All the things you want in a guy that’s going out to pitch a game that can help us stabilize and get back on the right track. That’s what you’d like.”
On the Cutch HBP and the warnings that ensued — “I’ve had different umpiring crews where they just take it, the guy runs down to first because all Hoover I’m sure did was try to pitch inside and the ball got away from him. Well, give us the opportunity to try and pitch inside, maybe a ball gets away from us. Everything’s done and I understand they don’t want anyone to get hurt. Nobody does. I just don’t understand how THAT works. The guy that does wrong gets the mulligan and no one else gets to play. That’s something I don’t get, maybe it’s my stubbornness and my thick-headedness.”
On Billy Hamilton, who scored from second after a stolen base on an infield hit to tie last night’s game — “Martin’s throw was six inches off from getting him. This guy is a good, young player. You saw the hits, you saw the stolen bases, so it’s not like he’s a track star. He’s a baseball player that can steal bases. We’ve got video tape, we’ve studied it, we took an afternoon in there breaking things down, we got a AAA staff that played a volume of games against their AAA team and saw this guy repeatedly. They had some success in different techniques, weather it be at first, second or combat the deal at third, so we’ve got a program put together, our pitchers are included in it, catchers included in it, fielders included in it. I think we’re ready, but let’s see how it works out in a game.”
Other Notes
— The Pirates have been hit by a pitch a Major League leading 83 times this season, including 12 times by Cincinnati pitchers in 14 meetings. Combined, there have been 24 HBP by the Reds & Pirates, the same amount as the Pirates & Cardinals combined.
First pitch is set for 7:05.
(Photo Credit: Frank Victores / US Presswire)
