Bucs and Cards Try Again

Veteran AJ Burnett takes on peach-fuzzed Shelby Miller tonight, and he may need all of his bag of tricks to outgun the rookie. AJ has punched out out 27 in 17 frames but has yet to work into the seventh, maybe because of all those K. He's thrown between 98-108 pitches in his three starts, so maybe a little bit more efficiency and a couple more grounders will get him deeper into today's match.

Miller shut down Milwaukee in his last start, holding the Brew Crew to one single over seven innings while striking out eight in a 2-0 victory. The game starts at 7:05 and will be aired by MLB Network and The Fan 93.7.
 
Pirate lineup: Starling Marte LF, Travis Snider RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Russell Martin C, Clint Barmes SS and AJ Burnett P.

Cardinal lineup: Jon Jay CF, Matt Carpenter 2B, Matt Holliday LF, Carlos Beltran RF, Yadier Molina C, Matt Adams 1B, David Freese 3B, Daniel Descalso SS and Shelby Miller P.

• AJ Burnett is 2 whiffs away from 2,000 strikeouts in his career, and he currently ranks fourth among active pitchers in career Ks. His 27 K in the first three starts of the season are the most by any Pirate pitcher to begin a campaign since Jose DeLeon struck out 28 in '85.
• Wandy is good to go Friday against the Braves, so it looks like Jonathan Sanchez's start, washed out last night, will be skipped.. 
• RHP Chris Leroux cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent.
• Jameson Taillon was on the hill for Altoona today. He went seven scoreless frames, giving up two hits with three walks (two in the first inning) and six K while throwing 100 pitches.The Curve hung on to win 4-3.
• Starting today is the Cards' 1B Matt Adams, who grew up in Philipsburg and played his college ball at Slippery Rock U. He's hitting .611 with three home runs in 20 PA.
• The Cubs DFA'ed a pair of old Buccos, LHP Hisanori Takahashi and UT Brent Lillibridge.