Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Lineup, Game Stuff

RHP Jeff Karstens goes against RHP Ian Kennedy tonight at 9:40 in Chase Field. The game will be shown on Root Sports.

The lineup:  Alex Presley LF, Nate McLouth RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Neil Walker 2B, Garrett Jones 1B, Rod Barajas C, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Clint Barmes SS, Jeff Karstens P.

The Bucs are scheduled to see five straight righties starting tonight, so get use to this lineup with a tweak or two for the time being. We are curious to see where Clint Hurdle uses Casey McGehee; he can't sit him down for five games. And Jose Tabata, Mike McKenry and Josh Harrison will all sneak in, too, maybe even Yamaico Navarro will get a look at short.

  • Clint Hurdle likes to shake 'em up. He's used nine different lineups in the first ten games, with five different guys batting second and five more fifth. Neil Walker has hit out of both spots.
  • Jeff Karstens should feel pretty comfortable in Phoenix. In his first MLB start against Arizona on 8/6/08, he took a perfect game into the 8th inning before Chris Young doubled to left field with two outs. Karstens faced just two batters over the minimum in winning a 2-0. JK's got a 1.83 ERA and .169 opponent BA in 20 innings of work at Chase Field.
  • This day in Pirate history: In 1955, Roberto Clemente made his MLB debut against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Forbes Field. In his first at bat, Clemente singled off Johnny Podres for his first of 3000 career hits.

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