Charlie v Jaime Garcia; Lefty Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - Charlie Morton (8-6, 4.22) toes the rubber against lefty Jaime Garcia (7-4, 2.03). As usual, Morton is up and down more than an elevator; the Bucs could use one of his good-time Charlie performances today. He hasn't seen the Cards this year, but has two very strong outings against them from last season. In spite of that, Pittsburgh has come up losers in Morton's last nine starts against the Redbirds.

Garcia has been tough this year, with a strong ground ball rate and a 0.99 WHIP. He's a pitch to contact guy, averaging six K per game. Garcia hasn't tossed against the Bucs since 2012. The game starts at 4:05 and will be on Fox Sports 1, Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Lefty lineup fo' sure - Josh and Jordy at the top, S-Rod & Michael Morse...pretty good bench with Gregory, The Kid, Fran and Pedro on it.

• Just wow - Andrew McCutchen is 7-for-7 with two walks in the first inning in his last nine games.
• Jordy has a seven game hitting streak.
• Super bench: Pittsburgh’s pinch hitters are 6-for-8 with three RBI in the first four games of this month.
• Elias says: JA Happ has allowed no more than one run in each of his last five starts. In the divisional-play era, only two other Pirates pitchers allowed no more than one run in each of five straight starts - Zach Duke had a streak of five in 2005, and John Candelaria enjoyed a streak of six straight starts like that in 1982.
• AJ - on schedule to return for the big September 15th twin bill against the Cubs?