Morton v Lohse As Bucs Look To Sweep

Charlie Morton (1-1, 2.81) hooks up with Kyle Lohse (3-6, 3.69) this afternoon.  Ground Chuck had his sinker going last outing, but his control was off and his infield wasn't particularly kind to him. One recurring problem is with lefties; the Bucs love to shift, and Charlies likes to use the outside of the dish, leading to a lot of opposite way knocks, especially by the non-slugging part of the order. A little better game scheming by the battery is called for to get that cow back in the barn. He is 0-4 against Milwaukee in his career, including an 0-3 mark and 5.79 ERA at PNC Park, so there's also that.

Lohse's lifetime record is 9-2 with a 3.41 ERA against the Pirates, and he's been a steady if unspectacular workhorse for the Brewers' staff so far this season. The game starts at 1:35 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Pirate lineup: Starling Marte LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones RF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Mike McKenry C, Clint Barmes SS and Charlie Morton P.

Pretty usual day-following-night lineup, with Barmes getting a start. It makes sense with Ground Chuck on the mound. The Bucs lack of depth in RF shows. Jones is out there with Gaby at first. Sanchez was brought in to platoon, but he's had twice as many at-bats against righties as lefties, and is hitting just .202 against them.

Brewer lineup: Norichika Aoki RF, Jean Segura SS, Carlos Gomez CF, Juan Francisco 1B, Rickie Weeks 2B, Yuniesky Betancourt 3B, Martin Maldonado C, Logan Schafer LF and Kyle Lohse P.

Sure looks different without Ryan Braun, who's on the 15 day DL and Corey hart, who is fdone for the season.

• The media gang reports that Wandy Rodriguez got a cortisone shot for his achy wing.
• Christine Kahrl of ESPN's The Sweet Spot likes the team, and is watching for moves down the road. She writes "The Pirates will be defined not by their ambitions, but by their actions. As brilliant as those have been on the field, here’s hoping that they’re matched by off-field machinations in the month to come."
• John Sickel of Minor League Ball follows Jeff Locke's career from the minors to today, and comes away with the conclusion that the young lefty is a classic #4 starter.
• From Elias Sports Bureau: Francisco Liriano is only the second Pirates pitcher since 1950 to win seven of his first 10 games with the Bucs. The other was Kip Wells in 2002.
• From earlier in the week, Sweet Spot's DJ Gallo of has the Pirates from A-to-Z.
• Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post opines on the best bargain signings of the year, and has Francisco Liriano high on his list.
• Andrew Ball of Fake Teams has a boatload of Bucco prospects in the upper half of his updated Top 100 prospects post.
• At Indy, Jose Contreras tossed two scoreless while Andy Oliver keeps walking people. The Bucs would like both to be in the mix for a late season call to the pen; JC's got a lot better chance.
• The Royals have released outfielder/first baseman Xavier Nady, 34, from AAA, where he was hitting .310 with 11 HR. He had an opt-out clause if not on the MLB roster and exercised it, with Colorado as his likely landing spot.
• IF Luis Cruz was DFA'ed by the Dodgers; so was Eric Hinske of Arizona..