Sunday, April 29, 2012

Lineup, Game Notes

RHP Kevin Correia (1-0, 2.00) faces the Braves' RHP Tim Hudson, who is making his first start since November back surgery. The game will start at 1:35 and be shown on Root Sports.

The lineup: Alex Presley LF, Jose Tabata RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Clint Barmes SS, Mike McKenry C, Kevin Correia P.

  • Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe noted that the Angels have shown some interest in Bucco closer Joel Hanrahan. Seems like the rumor mill is off to an early start this season.
  • Pittsburgh is 9-2 when they score more than a run. 
  • The Pirates' 14 K performance last night was the most strikeouts tossed by a Bucco staff in 9-inning game since June 26th, 2004, when they whiffed 15 Reds. Ollie Perez K'ed 13 and Jose Mesa added a pair in a 1-0 win that Randall Simon clinched with a ninth inning homer. 
  • Speaking of Ks, Jason Grilli now has 15 strikeouts in 8 innings of work this year. Grilli’s 16.8 strikeouts per 9 innings average ranks second in the Majors among relief pitchers, behind Atlanta’s Johnny Venters (17.6).
  • Juan Cruz is off to a nice start, too. He hasn't been scored on in his first nine appearances, covering 8-1/3 innings.
  • Twenty games, 17 different lineups. The only constant has been Cutch, playing center and batting third.
  • DL'ed pitchers Jeff Karstens and Chris Leroux should start soft-tossing next week.
  • Jack Wilson is now a Braves' infielder. Only seven players remain on the club after Wilson was dealt on July 29th, 2009: Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones, Joel Hanrahan, Evan Meek, Jeff Karstens, Nate McLouth and Charlie Morton, who was Wilson's teammate for six weeks.
  • According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Bucs' 20 game 5-or-less run streak is the longest start-of-season streak by any big-league squad since the Brewers started the 1972 season with a MLB record of 31 consecutive games scoring five-or-fewer runs. So still a ways to go.
  • Manager Jim Leyland of the Tigers notched his 1,599th victory yesterday, tying Tommy Lasorda for 17th place for all-time MLB wins. He goes for #1,600 against the Yankees this afternoon.

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