Lineup, Notes, News For Rubber Match

LHP Erik Bedard (7-13, 4.76 ERA) squares off against RHP Mark Rogers (1-1, 5.02). It's a big start for Bedard; the Bucs need to win series again, and he's the man in the spotlight in this afternoon's rubber match. The lefty has been a hometown hero - in 11 starts at PNC Park this season, Bedard has a 2.63 ERA; it's near seven on the road. Rogers earned his first big league win in his latest start on Monday, a 9-5 win over the Cubs. He was the fifth overall selection in the 2004 draft, but has gone under the knife four times since then. The game starts at 1:35 and will be shown on Root Sports.

The lineup: Travis Snider LF, Neil Walker 2b, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones RF, Jeff Clement 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Rod Barajas C, Josh Harrison SS, Eric Bedard P.

JT is out, as expected. Jeff Clements gets the call at first against the righty, and Clint Barmes gets a day off with Josh Harrison plugged in the middle.

• No roster move announcements yet; we'll post when they're made. But everyone is on the field for pre-game warm ups, including JT, Jeff Karstens and Hisanori Takahashi.
• Cutch has hit safely in five of his last six games and leads the NL in hits with 160. The last Pirate to lead the league in hits was Andy Van Slyke in 1992, with 199 knocks. McCutch is on pace to collect 206 hits this season. The last 200 hit guy for Pittsburgh was Freddy Sanchez in 2006, who reached 200 on the nose. The club record is 2007, collected by Paul "Big Poison" Waner in 1927.
• LHP Hisanori Takahashi was 0-3 with a 4.93 ERA and 41 K’s in 42 games for the Angels, but was on a little roll, not allowing a run in six of his last seven appearances with the Halos.
• The Bucs start today 8 games behind the Reds in the Central Division. They're 3-1/2 games behind Atlanta, 1 behind St Louis and 1/2 game behind the Dodgers for the two wildcard spots. 
• On Monday, the Pirates host St. Louis in a three-game series, capped by a nationally televised game Wednesday night on ESPN. The Bucs and Cards have split the first dozen games of the 2012 head-to-heads, and won't meet one another again in the regular season after that three-game set.