Notes & Lineup For Rubber Match

Happy Fathers Day to all you pappies!

RHP Brad Lincoln (3-2, 3.15) takes the bump against RHP Jeanmar Gomez (4-56, 4.71) this afternoon. Bad Brad has been rattled around pretty well his past couple of starts. Gomez pitched well against the Reds in his last outing, but was shaky prior to that start. The game starts at 1:05 and will be shown on Root Sports.

The Lineup: Alex Presley LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones RF, Casey McGehee 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Matt Hague DH, Clint Barmes SS, Mike McKenry C.

It's Fort McKenry's turn to catch today, and Garrett Jones will open in right as JT takes a seat. The Hit Collector will get some swings in as DH; all the guys who hit from the left side are already penciled in on the scorecard.

• Alex Presley's homer yesterday was his first home run against a lefty since June 28th, 2011, when he connected off Jo-Jo Reyes, now pitching for Indy. And both bombs were interleague.
• Bob Cohn and Rob Biertempfel have a piece on Hanny in today's Tribune Review, with the lede "Those Joel Hanrahan trade rumors have died down a bit, although the Pirates might yet deal their All-Star closer depending on how the season unfolds. But any offer likely would be one the club absolutely could not refuse."
• Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote of a potential Kevin Youkilis deal: "The Pirates, who have become contenders in the NL Central, and Dodgers could be the teams most willing to pull the trigger. They could benefit from someone with Youkilis’s plate discipline." 
• Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic penned this about D-Back LHP Joe Saunders: "There is said to be interest from Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston and, somewhat surprisingly, Pittsburgh." There has been smoke about the Pirates looking to add starting pitching depth despite the work of Rudy Owens, Jeff Locke and Justin Wilson at Indy
• Clint Hurdle told the media in the pre-game discussion that the Bucs have been probing the market for six weeks, but other teams are just now beginning to evaluate their rosters for trade purposes..
• In his first start of the year, 2011 Pirate Minor League Pitcher of the Year Kyle McPherson went five innings for Altoona, giving up a run on four hits with a walk and 5 K. The righty had been out since camp with shoulder inflammation.