AJ v Jeff Samardzija; Hughes to DL, Presley Back

AJ Burnett (3-6, 3.22) and Jeff Samardzija (3-6, 2.96) go toe-to-toe this afternoon in a rematch of Opening Day. Both have been their team's hard luck guys as far as run support goes, so we expect a low scoring affair That should be true at least for Pittsburgh. They don't score for Burnett or against Samardzija. The game starts at 4:05 and will be aired on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Pirate lineup: Starling Marte LF, Travis Snider RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Russell Martin C, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Neil Walker 2B, Clint Barmes SS and AJ Burnett P.

Regular lineup.

Cubs lineup: David DeJesus CF, Luis Valbuena 3B, Anthony Rizzo 1B, Alfonso Soriano LF, Nate Schierholtz RF, Welington Castillo C, Starlin Castro SS, Darwin Barney 2B and Jeff Samardzija P.

Castro dropped to seventh.

• Jared Hughes was placed on the 15 day DL with shoulder inflammation and Alex Presley recalled. 
• From Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review:  Jeff Karstens had surgery Friday, and the Pirates haven't released the details yet. Also, Jeanmar Gomez and Jose Contreras are tentatively slated to begin rehab stints in the minors next week while Jose tabata is "in a holding pattern," per Clint Hurdle..
• It looks like Jordy Mercer is going to get most of his time against lefties, at least for the time being. Lifetime, there's not much diff between he and Clint Barmes against southpaws (.267 for Mercer, .271 for Barmes), though the split, with a tiny sample size of 30+ ABs each, is much more pronounced this season, with Jordy holding a .350 to .133 edge.
• 39 of Pittsburgh's first 61 games have been decided by one or two runs. The Pirates are 26-13 in those games.
• Elias Stats: the Pirates 10 shutouts in their first 61 games marks the fewest games needed by a Pirate team to reach the mark since 1908. It's also the quickest any MLB club has tossed 10 whitewashes since the Angels in 1989.
• C Tony Sanchez is putting it together at the plate this year. He's hitting .297 with seven homers and 28 RBI with a .944 OPS to go with his already MLB-caliber D. The Bucs seem satisfied with Mike McKenry's work as a big league back-up, and there aren't a lot of innings to be had behind workhorse Russell Martin in Pittsburgh anyway, but  it looks like Sanchez's time is finally coming.
• Andrew Lambo got the call to Indy. The once-upon-a-time hot prospect scored from the Dodgers has put together a 2013 line of .291/14/46/.910 OPS at Altoona with two keys to his hot start; he's been healthy this season and bit more selective at the dish. He's 24, 6'3", 210 and an adequate corner OF. We'd expect him to play for the Tribe - no point in calling him up otherwise - and he'll join Jerry Sands as a prospect, while competing for time with vet fourth outfield types Alex Presley and Felix Pie plus insurance policy Brett Carroll.
• The draft concludes today, with rounds 11-30.