Bucs & Cards - The Rubber Match: Locke, Shake-and-Bake Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - In a battle of lefties, Jeff Locke (2-2, 4.85) faces Tyler Lyons (0-0, 6.23) in this afternoon's rubber match. Locke is 2-2 with a 3.76 ERA in five career starts against the Cards, and been up-and-down so far this year. His recent outings have netted him an 0-2/7.47 slash over his last three starts. Lyons, recently recalled from AAA Memphis, is making his second start for St. Louis and is 0-2 with a 4.20 ERA in three career games (two as a starter) against Pittsburgh. The game starts at 1:35 and will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Today's Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Jung-Ho Kang 3B, Cutch CF, Starling Marte LF, Corey Hart 1B, Jordy Mercer SS, Sean Rodriguez RF, Fran Cervelli C, Locke P.

Jung-Ho gets another starting gig at third this afternoon (photo: MLB.com)

Combo get-away day & LHP lineup. The Kid, Pedro and El Coffee get a break. Josh is back, playing second and hitting leadoff, Kang mans the hot corner again, S-Rod is in right, and Cervelli kinda surprisingly gets back-to-back starts.

After today’s game, the Pirates head for Philadelphia and a four game set, followed by three games with the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

• It seems like Marte's bout with dizziness was a short-lived affair; he's back in the lineup after being pulled last night and hitting cleanup.
• Gregory Polanco appears to be adjusting to his new leadoff position. He's appeared in the top spot the last nine games and has gone 9-for-39 with six walks and six runs scored. 
• The confusion at the end of last night's triple play, when Jung-Ho Kang headed to the dugout and Jason Heyward froze on the basepaths before its completion, was caused because both players thought that Neil Walker had caught Yadier Molina's liner and stepped on the base for the second out force play. But The Kid hadn't, requiring that one extra throw for the record books.
• Charlie Morton could be one or two rehab starts away from returning to Pittsburgh. He was sharp at Altoona in his first tune-up and will toss for Indy on Thursday.
• The Cards opted to play this series one man short by not placing Matt Carpenter (fatigue) on the DL; they're hoping for his return to action after the Bucco set.
• In local news, the Pitt girls softball team knocked off the number two & three seeds, Notre Dame & North Carolina, in the ACC tournament, but their magic fell a couple of innings short as they lost to top seeded Florida State in the title game 6-2.