Get-Away Day: Lineup, Pre & Post Game Notes

Pre & Post game notes...

• Wandy Rodriguez faces Jason Hammel in the 12:35 get-away day game. Thanks to the Tuesday off-day, the Buc bullpen should be good to go except for Stolmy Pimental and maybe Jeanmar Gomez. Of course, judging by the radar, that shouldn't be an issue today.
• The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Travis Snider RF, Cutch CF, Pedro 3B, Neil Walker 2B, Travis Ishikawa 1B, Tony Sanchez C, Jordy Mercer SS and Wandy P. Looks like that platoon is pretty much set; the only diff today in Sanchez-for-Martin, a night-to-day game switch. And even with that platoon, Clint Barmes ended up playing first tho he and Gaby appeared in the 12th inning as offensive replacements.
• Charlie Morton worked six innings and left after being struck on the left thumb by a line drive. X-rays showed no break, so the Bucco pitching staff looks like it dodged a bullet.
• Tony Sanchez's game winning knock was his first MLB walk-off hit.
  
• The Pirates have opened their season with back-to-back walk-off victories for the first time in franchise history.
• The attendance last night was a respectable 29,762, most of whom read about the win in the morning paper.
• Scarily, the Pirates lead the NL Central Division in runs scored with five. Milwaukee is next with four; the division as a whole has scored just 14 runs so far.
• Chicago's Emilio Bonifacio became the first player in the modern era with nine hits through the first two games of a season and the fifth player since 1914 to have at least four hits in each of his team’s first two games of the year. On the other side of the pillow, Carlos Villanueva became the first pitcher to take the loss in his team's first two games since Ryan Madson of the Phils in 2007.
• David Laurila of Fangraphs draws the comparison between Jordy Mercer and Clint Barmes.
• Indy opens its AAA schedule tonight at Columbus. Casey Sadler takes on Trevor Bauer.