The Pittsburgh Pirates will start its first four game series of the season when it takes on the Chicago Cubs. This is a match-up of the second and third place teams in the National League Central.
Tonight’s starters:
A.J. Burnett [0-1 2.35 ERA] will pitch for the Pirates against Jake Arrieta [1-1 1.98 ERA] in tonight’s game.
Burnett is 7-4 against the Cubs with a 3.25 ERA in 13 career starts which span 83 innings. As a member of the Phillies last season Burnett posted an 0-2 record with a 4.61 ERA in two starts against the Cubs. His last win against the Cubs came on June 8, 2013.
“There’s some grit and grind that you get with experience,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “He has a passion for this game evidenced by the years he’s played it. He’s not so much a strikeout pitcher anymore but he still gets strikeouts. He knows how to pitch, follows the game plan and can go to areas.”
Arrieta is 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA in 23 innings against the Pirates. He last faced the Pirates Sept. 25, 2013 at Wrigley Field winning 4-2 while allowing one run on four hits in six innings. Andrew McCutchen is batting .364 against Arrieta while Starling Marte is 2-for-2 against the Cubs right-handed starter. Six other Pirates have had plate appearances against Arrieta, however none are hitting above .125.
Pregame thoughts:
Chris Stewart had a two-RBI single in yesterday afternoon’s game and Hurdle told assembled media prior to the game that this is no coincidence.
“He wanted to be a better hitter when he got here,” said Hurdle. “I know that always sounds funny because guys want to hit and get better but he became very stubborn with a routine. His practice time and reps are very important to him. He doesn’t take them for granted. He has a certain way he goes about doing things whether it’s hitting off the machine, early hitting, his regular BP. He’s been as stubborn with a plan as he’s been in this clubhouse.”
Jordy Mercer is not in tonight’s lineup and Jung-ho Kang will start his first home game.
Hurdle reported to the media that Mercer is in a better place than he upon talking to him on his knees on the field yesterday. As of when the Pirates took the field for batting practice, Mercer had one more test the team wanted him to run. He was sore and the Pirates were treating it as a contusion to the chest.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon took a pregame question about the Cubs struggles at second base and took the window to discuss the team’s defense. Jonathan Herrera [.182, 0 HR, 1 RBI] starts there and bats ninth in tonight’s lineup.
“Everybody always looks at offense, I think we’ve been running the bases great, we’ve been playing great defense infield and outfield,” Maddon said. “Everybody’s always fixed on hits, I’m fixated on defense and pitching. The guys that are out there are doing a great job with that. We’ve had a chance to win almost every game because our pitching and defense is so good.
Tonight’s lineups:
Pirates [6-6]
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 Jung-ho Kang SS
9 A.J. Burnett P
Cubs [6-5]
1 Dexter Fowler CF
2 Jorge Soler RF
3 Anthony Rizzo 1B
4 Kris Bryant 3B
5 Miguel Montero C
6 Starlin Castro SS
7 Chris Coghlan LF
8 Jake Arrieta P
9 Jonathan Herrera 2B
Bottom of the ninth:
Andrew McCutchen has always worked to improve one facet of his game. Two years ago he told the media at PirateFest that he wanted to have a mentality that when he stole a base that the base was his. He called it a Rickey Henderson type of mentality. Last season, McCutchen embraced the hitting to all-fields approach. With that in mind, McCutchen did mention what aspect he wanted to improve this season, staying healthy.
“I didn’t come into Spring Training like I normally do, ready to go, fully in shape, body where it needs to be,” McCutchen said. “It’s been a little bit of an adjustment for me this year, so for me it’s just what I need to do to keep myself and my body in the shape that it needs to be to withstand a full season and possibly more baseball into the playoffs. When I was 21, 22 I could eat whatever I wanted, I didn’t have to stretch, I didn’t have to work out, I could just go and play the game. Now it’s changed, you have to watch what you eat, the amount of sleep and all of that has an effect on you and how well you perform.”
