Frankie v Ryan Vogelsong on ESPN; Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - Francisco Liriano (8-6, 3.35) concludes the series, facing off against Ryan Vogelsong (9-8, 3.93). Frankie, despite a rough August, has gone 7-2 with a 2.95 ERA and 102 strikeouts in his last 15 starts covering 94-2/3 IP, and been hitting the ball a ton lately, too. Liriano is going after his fifth consecutive win, and the team has won the last nine outings he's started. He's 3-1 with a 3.75 ERA in four career starts v the Giants, with a 5-2 win over Tim Hudson earlier in the year.

Vogelsong had been relegated to the pen, but his three starts during Mike Leake's DL stint (2-1, 2.40) got him back in good graces. He bumped Chris Heston, who was originally slated to go during this series but instead was optioned back to the minors. Vogelsong dropped a 4-3 decision to the Bucs in June, and is 2-4/3.55 against his old teammates lifetime. The game starts at 8:05 and will be on ESPN and 93.7 The Fan.

Pretty strong lineup against the G-Men as the Bucs look to take the series tonight on national TV. Josh is taking a seat and no word on Jordy yet.

• Starling has a seven game hitting streak going into tonight.
• August has proven the Pirate mettle this year and is a great harbinger for the future. This is the first season that Clint has the Bucs above .500 (13-6 with eight contests remaining) during games played during this month, a good indicator that the club is finally deep enough to survive the summertime grind thru rest & replacement.
• You think the Bucs are a bit frustrated? How about the Cubs, a club that's gone 15-4 in August yet picked up just two games on Pittsburgh and four on the Cards?
• The first three games between the Pirates and Giants have drawn 112,622 fans and could establish a new record today. The PNC Park high water mark for a four-game series is 150,819, set last June 26-29th for the New York Mets.
• The wounded puppies continue to mend; AJ fired a couple of dozen fastballs off the mound yesterday, the first time he's worked off the mound since his arm injury.