The Pittsburgh Pirates offense and baserunning reemerged in a 6-3 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates have a chance to win its first home series tonight as Kyle Lohse [0-2 11.17 ERA] takes on Jeff Locke [1-0 3.00 ERA].
Tonight’s starters:
Jeff Locke starts for the Pirates. The left-hander won his starting role in Spring Training and is 1-0 on the season winning 6-2 April 10 against the Brewers. In 90 pitches, Locke pitched six innings allowing seven hits, two runs, one walk and two strikeouts.
Locke has seen a decrease in sinker usage using it 58.89 percent of the time. His curveball was used more in his last start than any recent season at 18.89. Locke compliments these with a change up that was thrown 21.11 percent of the time.
Lohse lost 10-2 Sunday against the Pirates and allowed four runs, eight hits and five strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Despite the defeat Lohse is 11-4 with a 3.81 career ERA against the Pirates. Lohse was 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA against the Pirates last season.
Pregame thoughts:
Neil Walker is 11-36, a .306 career batting average against Lohse and prior to tonight’s game offered his scouting report.
“He’s the type of guys that’s going to be around the zone with three or four different pitches both to lefties and righties,” Walker said. “I haven’t had a ton of success recently against them but everything he throws is down in the zone so you have to be very patient look for your pitch and your spot and try to take advantage.”
Charlie Morton’s outing that was scheduled this morning in Tampa was cancelled due to a lack of participation from the Yankees. Instead Morton threw a simulated game and according to Special Assistant to the General Manager Jim Benedict, the session went well and was a step forward.
Among Pirates players who have been with the team since Opening Day, Jung-ho Kang has the third fewest amount of at-bats on the season with nine. Manager Clint Hurdle was asked if Kang’s best option was being sent down to Triple-A Indianapolis in order to get him more at-bats.
“I wouldn’t take it there,” Hurdle said. “We haven’t given that any type of thought right now.”
Tonight’s lineups:
Pirates [4-6]
1.Josh Harrison 3B
2 Gregory Polanco RF
3 Andrew McCutchen CF
4 Neil Walker 2B
5 Starling Marte LF
6 Pedro Alvarez 1B
7 Francisco Cervelli C
8 Jordy Mercer SS
9 Jeff Locke P
Brewers [2-8]
1 Ryan Braun RF
2 Jean Segura SS
3 Jonathan Lucroy 1B
4 Khris Davis LF
5 Aramis Ramirez 3B
6 Hector Gomez 2B
7 Martin Maldonado C
8 Logan Schafer CF
9 Kyle Lohse P
Bottom of the ninth:
Ryan Braun was placed in the lead off position in tonight’s line up. This is a decision that may baffle some, however Braun has a .300 batting average and a .900 OPS in his career against Locke. Manager Ron Roenicke approached Braun with the decision and told the media that his right fielder was a fan of the decision.
“[We’re] Trying to do something different to get him a spark and get his mind off some things and maybe on something else,” Roenicke said. “It accomplishes a couple of things. I had a lot crazier ones than the one I put up today. We need to do something different and this made sense.”
Jonathan Lucroy will move from catcher to first base in an effort to keep his bat in the lineup against a left-handed pitcher. In the past three seasons Lucroy batted .329 against left-handed pitching.
Corey Hart got his 1,000th career hit with a home run in the seventh inning on Monday. He told reporters on Monday that he did not receive the ball. There have been reports that there is blood on the baseball. Hart said prior to the game that he still had not received the ball however the Pirates are still trying to negotiate with the family that currently possesses the milestone baseball.
