Crank It Back Up: Liriano v Leake Kick Off Second Half

The second half starts at Cincy tonight, with Francisco Liriano  (9-3, 2.00) taking on Mike Leake (8-4, 2.69) at GABP. The Cisco Kid has won his past four outings, but lost both starts against the Reds this year, even with a 2.25 ERA. Leake has allowed just one run in 13 innings in his two June starts against Pittsburgh, so there should be a whole lot of pitching going on in the Queen City.

And more than the competition will be hot. The game should start with temps in the mid-80s, although the t-storms should have passed through by first pitch. The game starts at 7:10 and is the MLB.com free game of the day. It'll be aired locally by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Pirate lineup: Starling Marte LF, Jose Tabata RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Pedro Alvavrez 3B, Russell Martin C, Garrett Jones 1B, Jordy Mercer 2B, Clint Barmes SS and Francisco Liriano P.

Neil Walker is at Indy for a rehab stint. He's due off the DL on Monday by out calculations.

Reds lineup: Chris Heisey LF, Shin-Soo Choo CF, Joey Votto 1B, Brandon Phillips 2B, Jay Bruce RF,
Todd Frazier 3B, Zack Cozart SS, Devin Mesoraco C and Mike Leake P.

• Jon Heyman of CBS Sports posts that the Bucs are still in on OF Alex Rios and maybe SS Alexei Ramirez. Tom Singer of MLB.com thinks that Rios may be number one on the Pirates' wish list.
• David Todd of AM 970 ESPN suggests the Bucs go after Cliff Lee.
• Mark Hulet of MLB Trade Rumors thinks the most likely prospect to be dangled by the Bucs is RHP Luis Heredia.
• Per Elias Sports Bureau: Pittsburgh has a MLB leading 3.07 team ERA going into today. The last time the Pirates had the best ERA in the majors at the All-Star break was 1962 (3.45).
• RHP Stolmy Pimentel goes for Indy tonight. Keep an eye on him; he's out of options and the Pirates have fast tracked him this season, maybe to showcase or maybe as an audition to become 2014's Jeanmar Gomez.
• RHP Jameson Taillon went seven innings for Altoona, giving up three runs on five hits with two walks and seven K while tossing 96 pitches, a nice bounceback after getting clocked in his last outing..