Bucs v Cards; Mazzaro Up, Morris Down

Jonathan Sanchez takes the hill tonight against the Card's Jake Westbrook. Sanchez has been pretty good against St. Louis, with a lifetime 3-0/ 4.13 line, although he was clobbered in his last outing against Arizona. The Pirates are crossing their fingers that they get some innings out of him; the bullpen has been ridden hard with no break in the schedule until May. Westbrook hasn't fared so well against Pittsburgh, with a career 1-7/5.28 line. He's also gone 15-2/3 IP this season without giving up an earned run. It'll be interesting to see which pitcher shows up for both teams tonight.

The games starts at 7:05 and will be aired by Root Sports and The Fan 93.7.

Pirate lineup: Starling Marte, Jose Tabata RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Russell Martin C, Clint Barmes SS and Jonathan Sanchez P.

JT is starting in right in place of Snider, probably just to get him some work. It's not a big deal; neither Tabata nor Snider have big R/L splits.

Card lineup: Shane Robinson CF, Carlos Beltran RF, Matt Holliday LF, Allen Craig 1B, Yadier Molina C, David Freese 2B, Matt Carpenter 2B, Pete Kozma SS and Jake Westbrook P.

• Not a stunner, but RHP Bryan Morris, who Clint Hurdle treats like a back-up shortstop, was sent back to Indy and RHP Vin Mazzaro was called to PNC Park. Mazzaro has collected nine K in seven IP and hasn't given up a run this season. It's likely that the FO wanted a fresh arm after last night, just in case Jonathan Sanchez needs help sooner rather than later.
• Brandon Inge can return from the DL at any time, but the team has until April 24th before they have to make a roster move concerning him. With Alex Presley's call-up, it looks like the FO will give Inge those extra few days to sharpen his game. He's hitting .139 with two homers at Indy, but has slowly been regaining his eye.
• The Cards have had closer problems in the early going, having blown four saves already. But they've overcome them pretty well and won five of their last six games.
• Indy won 5-4 over Toledo. Josh Harrison finally got some at-bats and banged out three hits for the Tribe, with a double and a stolen sack. He played second base. Gerrit Cole takes the mound for Indianapolis tonight.
• Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors has a piece on Paul Maholm and how he's setting himself up for a nice payday in the walk year of his contract with Atlanta.
• Joel Hanrahan was placed on the 15 day DL by Boston with a strained hammy, an injury he may have been nursing for the past year.