After a big comeback win Friday against the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates hope there’s another win in store when they take on the Cubs for the second game of the series.
Saturday, Pirates rookie Chad Kuhl (1-0. 4.09 ERA) will face Chicago’s Jon Lester (9-4, 2.67 ERA). The game will be Kuhl’s third career Major League start. In his first, he defeated Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw; Kuhl tossed five innings and allowed three runs.
In his most recent start, Kuhl battled Oakland Athletics starter Rich Hill and earned a no-decision. Though Kuhl elevated several pitches, he was in a pitcher’s park and allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings.
Lester comes with the fourth-lowest ERA among left-handed pitchers with his 2.67 ERA — he’s behind Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner and Drew Pomerantz. If Lester wins, he’ll be the third Chicago pitcher to reach double-digit wins prior to the All-Star Break, joining Dick Ellsworth (1963, 1964 and 1965) and Ken Holtzman (1969).
Cubs ace Jake Arrieta already has 12 wins this season, so if Lester were to win tonight it’d be the first time since 2008 that the team had multiple 10-game winners before the All-Star Break (Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster).
After posting a 4-0 record with a 1.41 ERA in six starts, Lester is coming off the shortest outing of his career, allowing eight runs on nine hits in 1.1 innings against the New York Mets.
Cervelli injury update; Polanco injury creates some uncertainty
Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli will miss his 27th game with a broken left hamate bone. Saturday, he took to the field for a second time since the injury, taking cuts against hitting coach Jeff Branson.
“I’m encouraged with the way he is swinging the bat,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “The blocking and throwing he’s been doing. He seems to be in a very good place.”
Cervelli noted that his injury has improved but said he couldn’t help feeling like a caged animal.
“It was better today,” he said. “I think, with the time, I will feel the pain less and less. Right now, I am ready to play. … I just want to go back, play and help my team. I’ll figure it out later. I want to give it everything I’ve got because we’re on a mission, and I cannot let my teammates down.”
Polanco departed yesterday’s game in the seventh inning with left hamstring tightness. He’s not starting tonight and will likely be held out of Sunday’s starting lineup as well.
“He’s no more injured now than he was initially,” Hurdle said. “I think it aggravates itself. We’re just thinking about the next best course of action. … We tried to navigate through it the last few days, but we’re able to gain a lot of momentum on the physical health side. We’re going to try to stay away from him the next two days, give him the four days off with the All-Star Break and re-evaluate when we get to Washington.”
Tonight’s lineups
Pirates (44-42)
- Jordy Mercer SS
- David Freese 1B
- Andrew McCutchen CF
- Jung Ho Kang 3B
- Starling Marte LF
- Sean Rodriguez RF
- Josh Harrison 2B
- Eric Fryer C
- Chad Kuhl P
Cubs (52-34)
- Tommy La Stella 2B
- Kris Bryant LF
- Anthony Rizzo 1B
- Ben Zobrist RF
- Willson Contreras C
- Jason Heyward CF
- Addison Russell SS
- Javy Baez 3B
- Jon Lester P
Bottom of the ninth
All day, Pittsburgh has been celebrating it’s 200th birthday with a parade and all kinds of other activities. At 9:30 p.m., there will be fireworks going off at Point State Park. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto will throw out the first pitch tonight, and the Pirates will wear a patch on their uniform celebrating the Bicentennial.
Hurdle said his love for Pittsburgh dates back to his teenage days.
“I’ve always appreciated the city, it just happened to be in my sweet spot as a teenager growing up with all the things going on over here with all of the sports,” Hurdle said. “It would always seem like we’d be in for the Regatta weekend as well. It’s just electric. I always liked coming here. It’s really cool to be here for the bicentennial.”
In addition to pitching, Pirates reliever Jared Hughes enjoys taking pictures wherever he goes — and that doesn’t just mean baseball stadiums. And even with all the amazing places he’s been, he took his best photo right here in Pittsburgh at the Hot Metal Bridge (which he said is one of the best places to watch the sunset).
To many, Pittsburgh is still just that steel city, but Hughes believes there’s more to it than that.
“It’s got to be one of the most photographic cities because there’s so much water, a lot of bridges, elevated hills and beautiful weather,” he said. “It’s definitely beautiful.”
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The Cubs made one move prior to tonight’s game, calling up infielder Munenori Kawasaki from Triple-A Iowa while sending down infielder Jeimer Candelario.
Image credit: Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports
