Locke Down v Danks; Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - Jeff Locke (3-3, 4.90) vs. John Danks (3-6, 5.16) is an interesting match up of lefties that haven't performed up to snuff yet this year. Jeff did spin a few zeroes in his last outing against the Phils in a game that the Bucs eventually took 1-0. He's never faced the Pale Hose, but has been having a hard time on the road, going 1-2 with a 8.37 ERA in five away starts so far this season.

Jeff Locke tries to keep the zeroes comin'... (photo - Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Danks, 30, has had a rough year. After throwing a complete game, 118 pitch shutout against the Astros, his last two starts have totaled 10 innings, with 10 runs (eight earned) and 19 hits charged to him. He has a win against Pittsburgh in his sole outing versus the Pirates back in 2010. The game starts at 8:10 and will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

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

Cutch's wheels get a break today as he DH's, and we'll bet that Gregory, Pedro and The Kid are happy as pigs in mud that there's a righty slated to throw tomorrow. Corey gets another shot at starting, but ominously for him, he's hitting in the eight hole.

• Starling Marte has a seven game hitting streak, with the last five being multi-hit outings.
• Fran Cervelli ranks third among NL catchers in the latest All-Star balloting update, trailing only San Francisco’s Buster Posey and St. Louis’ Yadier Molina. That's pretty good company to be running with.
• Sean Rodriguez is the only Buc to have seen Danks more than once thanks to his Tampa Bay Ray days, and he's gone 6-for-12 against him lifetime.
• Happy anniversary! Six years ago today Cutch connected for his first career home run in the big leagues with a two-run shot off Minnesota’s and now teammate Francisco Liriano at the Metrodome.
• Charlie Morton became first Pirate pitcher to open the year by winning his first five games since Neal Heaton won his first six in 1990, per MLB Stats.
• Tony Watson has made a NL-leading 111 appearances since the beginning of last season.
• The Bucs recent pitching brilliance is covered by The Sweetspot's Christina Kahrl, who calls the string "scary good."
• The red hot Alen Hanson has been placed on Indy's DL with what is described as a "minor finger injury." The 2B'man is expected to miss a week or two of action.