Saturday, July 19, 2014

Morton v Anderson, Lineup (No Marte), Looking At Kennedy, Leftie Love...

Charlie Morton (5-9, 3.32) takes on LHP Brett Anderson (0-3, 4.95) tonight.

Charlie muddled through another bad inning last game, but settled and and the Bucs came around to win 6-5. He's especially tough at home, going 3-0 in his last three starts at PNC Park and 3-3 with a 2.13 ERA in eight starts this year at home. He's done pretty well against the Rox, posting a 2-0 slate with a 3.33 ERA in four career starts. He's been charged with two or fewer earned runs in three of the four starts, but he hasn't seen them since 2012, so take that with a grain of salt.

Anderson, 26, has been on the 60-day DL with a broken left index finger since April 14th), an injury he suffered while at San Francisco. He's made two rehab starts for AAA Colorado Springs going 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA, but we wouldn't expect him to get real deep into the game. Anderson was beat up last start, but don't sleep on him; the 6'4" lefty was the Oakland A's 2013 Opening Day pitcher. He's never faced Pittsburgh.

The lineup: Gregory Polanco RF, Josh Harrison LF, Cutch CF, Russ Martin C, Neil Walker 2B, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Pedro 3B, Jordy Mercer SS and Morton P. Starling Marte is out; we're surprised he stayed in yesterday's game after taking a fastball off the helmet.

The 7:05 game will be aired on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.
  • Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Bucs were among the teams scouting the Padres Ian Kennedy.
  • Love us some lefties: Jordy Mercer’s .361 average against left-handed pitchers over the last two seasons ranks second among all National League hitters behind Atlanta’s Chris Johnson (.398). Starling Marte ranks fifth with a .353 average vs. southpaws in that time and Andrew McCutchen is seventh at .348.
  • Neil Walker leads all NL second basemen this season with 13 home runs. Pedro's 15 home runs are second-most among NL third basemen behind Cincy’s Todd Frazier (18).
  • The Pirates have sold out seven of their last 11 home games and have averaged 33,552 for the last 12 games played at PNC Park.

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