The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a roller coaster day after a victory against the Cleveland Indians Sunday to earn a series win.
Despite the victory, Josh Harrison was placed on the 15-day disabled list today. Harrison is one of the more popular Pirates. A year ago, Harrison was named an All-Star, however he has earned a trip of a different kind.
A.J. Burnett hopes to end the day with a Pirates victory. Burnett is 4-7 with a 4.38 ERA in 12 career starts against the Padres. Burnett won a start earlier this season against the Padres however allowed five runs [four earned] on eight hits in 5.2 innings. Burnett won his last start against the Detroit Tigers pitching seven innings and surrendering two runs on seven hits. He enters tonight’s start with a 1.29 home ERA, the lowest total in the National League.
James Shields will pitch for the Padres and had faced the Pirates once. He earned a no-decision pitching six innings and allowing two runs in addition to six hits. In his last start against the Seattle Mariners, Shields took his third consecutive loss allowing two runs on four hits in 6.2 innings.
Seventh inning stretch: As PSN’s Alan Saunders reported earlier, Josh Harrison was placed on the 15-day DL after injuring his left thumb. Harrison talked to reporters today while his left hand was wrapped heavily with ice on the thumb.
“It was on the steal when I felt my hands kind of get stuck in the dirt and ended up getting cut up a little bit,” Harrison said. “They [the Indians] did a pitching change and I was able to go in and get my blood cleaned up and give them a heads up.”
The injury means that Gregory Polanco will bat leadoff in tonight’s game and likely for most of the foreseeable future. Jung Ho Kang, meanwhile, will get the majority of time at third base. Manager Clint Hurdle also said that giving Pedro Alvarez time back at third base had not been discussed.
Harrison’s bat will be missed at the leadoff position where he was a .307 hitter since the beginning of last season, which is the best average in the National League. He also was a .333 hitter in his last 22 games and .344 in his past 47.
“Any time one of us get banged up or bruised we take it hard,” said Harrison. “We’re family and you always feel for the guy. With it being me this time, we’ll get through it and it shows how close we are as a team.”
Harrison’s injury made the corresponding move for Travis Ishikawa that much easier. Ishikawa was with the Pirates for part of the 2014 season and was designated for assignment on Friday by the San Francisco Giants.
“It’s good that if I have to go somewhere else, that it’s with people that I know,” Ishikawa said. “I felt I had a good relationship with a lot of the guys at Spring Training last year. Obviously, they think enough of me to bring me in, so I definitely want to repay them and help them win some ballgames. It’s a good feeling that a former club would want me back.”
Ishikawa will wear jersey number 30 in this stint with the Pirates.
Bottom of the ninth: Hurdle was unwilling to go through his “Rolodex” following yesterday’s game, however he did concede that Pedro Alvarez had one of his best two-way games this year. His home run yesterday was a turning point and his diving stop of a hard-hit ground ball brought one of the loudest fan ovations of the afternoon.
“Everybody wants to contribute and he did it in a couple of big ways,” said Hurdle. “Those are really good things. You saw how pumped up Cole was when he laid out on that play and that added some energy to him as well.”
Francisco Cervelli hit .467 in 15 at-bats this season against the Padres, the best mark among Pirate hitters… Neil Walker was edged out by Aramis Ramirez for NL Player of the Week. Walker batted .464 with two home runs and nine RBI… Burnett will tie Jim Kaat for 35th place on the all-time strikeout list with his first punch out tonight… Pitchers and reserved for the All-Star Game will be announced tonight. If the Pirates have multiple players named tonight it will mark the fifth consecutive season of doing so. This would be the longest stretch since 1958-1969.
Photo courtesy: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
