(Photo Credit: Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
PNC Park — The Pirates (67 – 44) look to enact revenge on the Marlins (43 – 67) after dropping 2-of-3 in Miami a week and a half ago. Jeff Locke (9 – 3, 2.36 ERA) will face Henderson Alvarez (2 – 1, 2.61 ERA).
Leading Off
Francisco Liriano was named NL Player of the Week after going 2 – 0 in two starts last week, ranking among the league leaders with 14 innings pitched (2nd) and 14 strikeouts (T-4th). His 0.64 ERA (1 ER / 14 IN) was the lowest among Major League pitchers who made two starts last week and he held opposing hitters to a .133 batting average in his two assignments.
Hurdles Quotes
On Locke’s inconsistencies over his last two outings — “We don’t have the same concern value as I think everybody else does. The league has gotten to know him better. They can game plan against him differently, just like some of the pitchers we’re seeing. Discipline is always talked about. First time through the lineup, it usually plays out a little bit, then the game picks up and if that hitter didn’t get a hit his first time, the second time I think the hitters have slowed the game down a bit. I think he hasn’t been as sharp as he has been with the combination of the two.”
On having a calmer guy like Melancon closing a game compared to Grilli — “The two greatest closers of all-time have been flat-line guys in Hoffman and Rivera. They never beat the chest. They had some pretty good music to come in to, but that’s where it stops and that’s where the pitching started. Pretty much the same way with Melancon, as excited as you’re going to get is the walk-in song, then it’s just business as usual. It doesn’t make him good, it doesn’t make it bad, it’s indifferent. We had Grilli out here and it’s like Kid Rock and Melancon comes in and it’s like Clark Gable going to work. After the game we shake a hand and then we move on, it’s different. I like the shaking hand part at the end. That’s what I’m looking for in a closer.”
Other Notes
— Pittsburgh holds a two game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for first in the NL Central going into tonight’s games. The Cardinals host the L.A. Dodgers tonight.
— Starling Marte has an 8-game hitting streak going (9-for-27 .333) and an 11-game hitting streak at PNC Park (11-for-32 .344). Marte leads all N.L. leadoff hitters in hits (119) and runs (72). He has also gone 60-for-185 (.324) when leading off an inning.
— Andrew McCutchen is hitting .376 (38-for-101) with 22 RBI in his last 27 home games and ranks third in the N.L. with a .350 batting average. In the 24 games in which he has collected two or more hits at home this season, the Pirates have gone 22 – 2, and when he scores at least one run the Bucs have gone 30 – 4.
First pitch is set for 7:05.
Follow Travis for Pirates news and in-game updates on Twitter @TBerardi_OVA or @Theyinzer
