Sunday, July 27, 2014

Volquez v Morales, Lineup, Lefties, Bosox On the Radar, HoF

Edinson Volquez (8-7, 3.86) faces lefty Franklin Morales (5-5, 5.21) this afternoon.

Eddie wasn't very sharp in his last outing, a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers, but has won four of his last five starts and has been a pleasant if erratic surprise at the back end of the rotation.

He's had a rough time matching up against the Rox, going 3-8 with a 7.80 ERA in 13 career starts and has lost six straight outings dating back to 2012. He's gone 1-5 with an 8.45 ERA in eight career starts at Coors Field so Mile High baseball hasn't been to his liking. On the other hand, he's won his last three road starts, so something has to give.

Morales hasn't been anything special on the hill, losing a spot in the rotation and then reclaiming it by default when injuries decimated the Rox staff. But he's the third of four straight lefties the Bucs will face, and the Pirates have been having problems against southpaws of late.

The lineup: Josh Harrison LF, Gregory Polanco RF, Cutch CF, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Jordy Mercer SS, Pedro 3B, Chris Stewart C and Volquez P. Pedro's back, and the order is a little shaken up without Russ.

The game starts at 4:10 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.
  • The Pirates are 9-9 against lefty starters. No wonder; they're hitting .238 with a .649 OPS against southpaw starters.
  • Gordon Edes of ESPN says the Pirates are checking out Boston relievers; the Bosox have a slew of them, and most are available. Rob Biertempfel of the Trib notes interest in Andrew Miller.
  • Congrats to this year's HoF Class, all no-brainers: Greg Maddux, Bobby Cox, Tom Glavine, Tony La Russa, Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas and Joe Torre.

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