AJ v Nicasio In Rubber Match

AJ Burnett (4-7, 2.86) takes the bump against Juan Nicasio (6-5, 4.92) this afternoon. Burnett's ERA is a career low, but he can't buy a win; he's gotten no-decisions in five outings where he has surrendered two or fewer runs.  After three strong starts following his recall from the minors, Nicasio was blown up in Atlanta, so it'll be interesting to see whether good Juan or bad Juan will be on the hill today.

The game begins at 1:35 and will be aired on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Pirate lineup: Starling Marte LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Russ Martin C, Garrett Jones 1B, Jose Tabata RF, Jordy Mercer SS and AJ Burnett P.

Russ got last night off to rest his knee and get ready to catch AJ; Mercer gets a second start.

Rockies lineup: Corey Dickerson CF, DJ LeMahieu 3B, Carlos Gonzalez LF, Troy Tulowitzki SS, Michael Cuddyer RF, Todd Helton 1B, Yorvit Torrealba C, Jonathan Herrera 2B and Juan Nicasio P.

Colorado has the A Team in the field today, with CarGo, Tulo, Cuddyer and Helton.

• The Bucs are off tomorrow. They'll keep the rotation as is, and just give everyone an extra day's rest between starts.
• If the Pirates (66-44) finish out with a .500 record, they'll have 92 wins.
• James Krug of isportsweb takes a last look at NH's lack of action during the deadline; his take is that the Bucs should have at least added a veteran bullpen arm in Jason Grilli's absence, noting the reluctance of clubs to deal a bat without the return of a firstborn son.