Many fans may have already been asleep, however the Pittsburgh Pirates were not and won 9-8 in 15 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In tonight’s game J.A. Happ [0-1 4.66 ERA] will face Robbie Ray [3-8 3.29 ERA].
Happ is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in four career appearances [three starts] against the Diamondbacks. He earned a no-decision in his last start against the New York Mets he allowed one run on seven hits in 5.1 innings of work.
Ray is 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA in one career start against the Pirates. He lost his last game allowing three runs on six hits in 4.1 innings against the Atlanta Braves. The Diamondbacks have won three of the 14 games he has started. His 71 strikeouts and 82 innings each rank fifth among National League rookie pitchers.
Pirates make roster move: Upon walking into the clubhouse a Wall jersey was shown. Soon after the move was made and Josh Wall was called up.
Wall was 2-3 with a 2.93 ERA in 23 relief appearances with Triple-A Indianapolis. Wall will wear jersey number 61.
The corresponding move was designating Pedro Florimon for assignment. Florimon batted 2-for-19 [.105] in his time with the Pirates and was more known for his defense. He did not speak to reporters after the DFA.
He joins Brent Morel in being DFA’d after getting a hit in his last at-bat. Florimon’s hit was a game-winning 15th inning triple in last night’s game.
“I told him that I was glad I was having a hard conversation and that I was glad he helped us win the game last night,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “I was glad the hard work paid off, guys were jumping down on you after the game and happy to hug you after the game. Here is the hard part, the decision we had to make. Don’t let this diffuse what the plan has been, it got him back to the big leagues for exposure. We’re making this move because of a challenge in the bullpen not because of a lack of performance on his part.”
Wall will join a Pirates bullpen which has been taxed of late. Both Joe Blanton and Arquimedes Caminero will be unavailable in tonight’s game.
“We’ve added Wall for length, for volume,” said Hurdle. “He’s given them up to three innings and up to 50 pitches. He’s a guy we can utilize among those lines for some length. He’s making pitches, has some big league experience and did well in Spring Training.”
For Wall, the call-up came at a great time.
“I was actually packing my apartment because I was getting ready to move out any of my apartment,” Wall said. “We had seven home games left and were about to start a road trip. i packed up my stuff to the field and came this way.”
Seventh inning stretch: As reported earlier, Travis Snider is expected to sign with the Pirates. Hurdle said to reporters prior to the game that Snider will meet with the Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis Indians in Charlotte tomorrow.
“We’d like to see him get out and play, he hasn’t done that a lot,” said Hurdle. “We’ve seen him for a long period of time and saw him capture the best 2.5 months of his career here. We just want to get him out and playing to see where that bat shows up.”
An additional question as asked about the wooing fans made during the game. There is no middle ground with the noise, either it is embraced or hated. Hurdle hinted that he was not a fan but tackled the topic anyways.
“What usually happens when you tell your kids that you don’t like something that do,” Hurdle asked. “They try to do it immediately, so that’s what I’ve got for you on the woo woo thing.”
Bottom of the ninth: Tonight is the first ever Star Wars Night at PNC Park. Among the festivities were 2,500 fans receiving a Star Wars T-Shirt and characters posing for pictures with fans.
Hughes is a Star Wars fan and offered an assessment on who he and some of his teammates were.
“Most people should like Star Wars in my opinion. I’d say C3PO, he’s goofy and kind of reminds me of myself. He’s also tall so it kind of makes him stick out like a sore thumb. [Mark] Melancon is definitely Luke Skywalker, maybe [Joe] Blanton could be Obi Wan Kenobi. [Rob] Scahill is one of the furry guys or maybe Joba the Hut but that’s kind of rude.”
The Pirates are 13-9 in games against starting left-handed pitchers this season… Since August 5, Aramis Ramirez is batting .370 and has hit safely in 11 of his 12 games… Andrew McCutchen ranks first among National League players with a .448 on-base percentage in August.
Photo credit: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
