Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Bucs v D-Backs

James McDonald takes the bump against righty Brandon McCarthy tonight. J-Mac is trying to build on a nice effort against the Cubs last outing, but history isn't with him. He's not much of a road warrior (14-20/5.30 ERA) and not had much luck at Chase Field (1-1/6.48 ERA). McCarthy was toasted by the Cards in his opening outing, giving up six runs in five frames. The game starts at 9:40 and will be aired by Root Sports and The Fan 93.7. For TV fans, it's another Pens-Pirates twinbill.

Pirate lineup: Starling Marte LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Russell Martin C, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Travis Snider RF, Clint Barmes SS and James McDonald P.

Same order as yesterday. Why not?

Arizona lineup: Gerardo Parra CF, Martin Prado LF, Aaron Hill 2B, Miguel Montero C, Paul Goldschmidt 1B, Jason Kubel RF, Eric Chavez 3B, Cliff Pennington SS and Brandon McCarthy P.

C Miguel "Miggy" Montero is back in the lineup. The D-Backs gave him a day off yesterday after he caught the first six games, two of which went extra innings. Jason Kubel is in the lineup, too, so it's a little more dangerous than yesterday's order.

  • IF Brandon Inge is eligible to return from the disabled list tomorrow. He went 0-for-3 for Indy yesterday after homering on Monday.
  • Flippin' thru Fangraphs: In the first week, the Pirates threw the most curves (22%) and the second highest rate of fastballs (68%) in baseball. They're near the bottom when it comes to sliders/cutters (6%) and changeups (4%). We'll check on those ratios a little later in the season. We're wondering if avoiding sliders is a protect-the-arm thing or just a manifestation of the Pirates' preference for sinkers as the two-seam pitch.
  • Jason Notte of The Street reports that " A Major League Baseball game remains the best bargain among the top-tier sporting events."

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