Bucs Look to Broom D-Backs Behind Frankie; Getaway Day Lineup & Notes

Today's Game: Frankie Liriano takes the hill v Jeremy Hellickson. Francisco has pitched well without a W to show for it, while Hellickson, like De La Rosa last night, will be making his first career start against Pittsburgh. He'll be the second southpaw the Bucs have seen start this year. The game begins at 4:10 and will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Frankie lookin' for win #1 (photo Phil Valesquez/Chicago Tribune)

Today's Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Gregory Polanco RF, Cutch CF, Neil Walker 2B, Starling Marte LF, Pedro 1B, Jordy Mercer SS, Chris Stewart C, Liriano P.

The getaway day lineup looks suspiciously like the everyday lineup, with just Fran Cervelli getting a blow. We thought there might be a Corey Hart sighting with Pedro or El Coffee taking a seat against the lefty Hellickson; we thought wrong. Mark Melancon should be down today after three straight appearances.

• Cutch hit a couple of balls on the nose last night, so he may be shaking his slump. But he did look a bit hobbled in the outfield; it may be that cranky knee is giving him more problems than he and the club are letting on.
• Like AJ, Frankie doesn't have a win yet, and the Pirates have lost all three of his prior starts due to a combo of not scoring and some shoddy bullpen work.
• Tony Watson had a chat with Fangraphs David Laurila in his Sunday Notes column, and Tony tells him about his pitches, their appearance to the hitters and wins.
• Tough division (S/O to @ForbesToFederal ):

• Lowest walk rate in MLB? Yep, yer Buccos at 5.2%.
• In NL Central news, the Cards' Adam Wainwright injured his ankle getting out of the box last night. He was placed on the 15 day DL, and the Cards believe it's an Achilles injury. He'll get an MRI tomorrow to confirm. Beside possibly altering the division dynamics, it will be sure to throw some gasoline on the already raging "DH-or-no-DH" fire.