Cole, Greinke in the Rubber Match

Gerrit Cole (1-0, 2.84) takes on Zack Greinke (3-1, 3.68) this afternoon. It's start #2 of Cole's career. He threw 6-1/3 innings, allowing two runs and seven hits with no walks in his debut against the Giants, retiring a dozen batters in a row at one point. Geinke already owns a shutout win over Pittsburgh from April, and hopefully both sides will have a more peaceful outing than Zack did during his last start when a beanball war and brawl broke out against Arizona.

The game starts at 1:35 and will be aired by TBS, Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Pirate lineup: Alex Presley LF, Russell Martin C, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Travis Snider RF, Jordy Mercer SS and Gerrit Cole P.

Mercer starts again; guess the audition is on.

Dodgers lineup: Skip Schumaker LF, Nick Punto 2B, Adrian Gonzalez 1B, Yasiel Puig RF, Andre Ethier CF, Juan Uribe 3B, Tim Federowicz C, Luis Cruz SS and Zack Greinke P.

Puig is dropped to the middle of the order and once-upon-a-time Bucco Cruz gets the nod at short.

• With a victory today, Gerrit Cole would become the first Pirate pitcher to win his first two MLB starts since Josh Fogg in 2002. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only four pitchers in the last 50 years (since 1963) have won each of their first two big league starts for the Pirates. In addition to Fogg, Tim Wakefield did it in 1992, Jose DeLeon in 1983 and Jim Nelson won his first three in 1970.
• The Dodgers are 67-25 against the Pirates since 2001, and they're 4-1 this campaign with just today's game to go.
• Greinke is the fourth former Cy Young winner the Pirates have faced in a six-day span; they're 2-1 so far. He'll be the second CY pitcher that Cole has taken on.
• We wouldn't be surprised if AJ Burnett doesn't return this month. The calf tear he suffered is on his push leg, so he'll have to be 100% before he can start throwing again. The injury generally takes 10 days to heal with no activity.
• From Elias Sports Bureau:  Brandon Cumpton is the first NL pitcher in 51 years to begin with his career with four straight K. The last was LA's Pete Richert in 1962. As his reward, Cumpton will get a start Thursday against the Reds.
• After today, the Bucs hit the road for nine games against the Reds, Angels and Mariners.
• J-Mac takes the hill at Indy today, as does Jameson Taillon for Altoona.
• Alen Hanson hit a three run homer and was named MVP of the Florida State League All-Star game.
• The West Virginia Power will be well repped at the Sally League All-Star game. Pitchers Orlando Castro and Tyler Glasnow, infielders Stetson Allie and Dilson Herrera and outfielders Josh Bell and Walker Gourley were named to the squad.