Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Shook Up Lineup, Interleague, Injuries...

The Bucs are in Baltimore for their first interleague series, maybe - the weather is pretty iffy, so it may be a challenge to get the set in. If worse comes to worse, the two teams could possibly play a doubleheader on Thursday since both are off and  don’t face each other in Baltimore again this season.

Charlie Morton (0-3, 4.35) is scheduled to take the hill against Chris Tillman (3-1, 3.38) tonight. Morton is still struggling to find his 2013 groove, and hasn't won an interleague game since 2008. Tillman has been pretty steady for the Birds. He's a fastball guy who will flip to offspeed when he has command issues. Tillman is also a homer; he's posted an 0.69 ERA at Camden yards this year.

Lineup: Jose Tabata RF, Ike Davis 1B, Cutch CF, Pedro 3B, Gaby Sanchez DH, Neil Walker 2B, Starling Marte LF, Tony Sanchez C and Jordy Mercer SS. Dropping Marte in the order caused quite a mash up in the lineup. Ike is hitting second instead of Walker, and we're a little surprised Gaby got the DH call against a RHP instead of Travis Snider, tho Clint may be keeping him up his sleeve for a late inning PH role.

The game starts at 7:05, weather permitting, and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

  • Last year, Pittsburgh’s 15-5 record in interleague play was the best in the big leagues and the Pirates are riding a nine game road win streak in interleague play into tonight’s game. The team’s only road loss against an AL team came last year at Detroit. 
  • It doesn't look like the Pirates are making any calls to Indy for a DH tho the next five games are being played in AL parks; they'll go with what they got. That will leave the club with a four man bench, but since the pitcher doesn't need batted for, it should work out.
  • Neal Huntington talked to Greg Brown on 93.7 The Fan about the Pirates current injury situation.
  • The Orioles' Manny Machado is ready to come off the DL, perhaps as early as today. He's been off since off-season knee surgery.
  • Saber Bucs used a simulator the see if variations of the Pirate lineup would work better than Clint's usual card, and with some flopping around of Cutch, they did.
  • Baseball Borders from the NY Times:


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