AJ v Garza

AJ Burnett (7-10, 3.31) faces Matt Garza (9-4, 3.70) in the series finale as the Bucs look to sweep the Rangers. AJ has shown his age a little this year and has been alternating good/bad starts. He's faced Texas a dozen times with a line of 4-3/3.66. Garza has allowed four or more runs in six of his past seven starts. He's gone against Pittsburgh four times and is 1-1/3.00 against them. Both guys struggled big time during their last outing, so we'll see who shows up.

The game starts at 2:05 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Pirate lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Neil Walker 2b, Justin Morneau 1b, Marlon Byrd RF, Pedro Alvarez 3b, Russ Martin C, Garrett Jones DH, Clint Barmes SS and Felix Pie CF (AJ Burnett P).

Guess it's a maintenance day for Cutch; we're not really sure why you'd sit a red hot All-Star in September.

Ranger lineup: Ian Kinsler DH, Elvis Andrus SS, Alex Rios RF, Adrian Beltre 3b, AJ Pierzynski C, Mitch Moreland 1b, Jurickson Profar 2b, David Murphy LF and Leonys Martin CF (Matt Garza P).

• Mark the Shark and Jason Grilli are unavailable today; Clint Hurdle told the media that Kyle Farnsworth will be today's designated closer.
• Jordy Mercer is hitting .310 since the All-Star break, third on the team in batting during that span behind Andrew McCutchen (.371) and Gaby Sanchez (.320).
• Cutch has a nine-game hitting streak, and in that stretch he's hit .469 with a .564 OBP.
• The Pirates have won 11 of their last 13 interleague games with an overall 14-5 record. More amazing is that they're 8-1 on the road against the AL. Pittsburgh has a 38-36 record on the road this season, which is the most wins by the club since going 43-38 away from home in 1992.
• Charlie Morton is scheduled to pitch Friday against the Cubs, pending his upcoming side session. He has plantar fasciitis, a painful injury but one that shouldn't worsen because of pitching.