Cole Train v Joe Ross; Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - Gerrit Cole (13-4, 2.31) closes out the Washington series

against Joe Ross (2-2, 2.70). The California natives Cole (Orange) & Ross (Oakland)  were both first round selections in the 2011 Player Draft (Cole went #1 overall; Ross #25) with laser velocity.

Rookie Ross is a fastball/slider guy (he hits 97 MPH) with a change to keep batters honest, and has a 4-1 victory with 10 K this year against AJ in his only outing against the Bucs. Should be a nice match up of two young power arms. The game starts at 1:35 and will be on Root Sports and 97.3 The Fan.

Stew in for Fran (Cole pitching, day after night) backed by all the big boys today.

• Gerrit Cole has surrendered three runs or less in 18 of his 19 starts (two or less 14 times).
• Aramis Ramirez is tied with Brian Giles for sixth place on the all-time list for home runs hit at PNC Park with 45. He hit 29 while playing with the Pirates, 11 with with Cubs and five with the Brewers.
• And if you were wondering, Ramirez wasn't a clean-up guy for Milwaukee; he typically hit fifth or sixth.
• Bryce Harper has reached base in 22 straight games.
• In a notes column, Dave Laurila of Fangraphs talks with 1B Josh Bell and his stance as Bell looks for a better power-hitting platform.