Monday: Houston Wins 11-8; Phils Up Today, Lineup & Pitching; Injury Report

Today: The Bucs entertain the Phils at McKechnie Field, with game time at 1:05. The game will be on MLB.TV and Root Sports, with 93.7 The Fan on the radio side.

The pitching: Jeff Locke will work first, followed by Tony Watson, Trey Haley, Eric O'Flaherty, AJ Schugel and Jorge Rondon. Philadelphia will toss RHP Vincent Velasquez. Jeff didn't have great results last time out, but did say that his simplified motion was comfortable and he felt ready to roll.

Jeff Locke (photo: Associated Press)

The lineup: Alen Hanson 2B, Matt Joyce LF, Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Chris Stewart C, Sean Rodriguez SS, Cole Figueroa 3B, Locke P. As in the past, no DH once the spring has sprung (although there are plenty of pinch hitters; don't expect the pitchers to bat, at least for awhile).

Yesterday: Kelvin Marte, Arquimedes Caminero & Jared Hughes had the March blues, surrendering 10 runs and four homers among themselves. Houston went long five times to take an 11-8 win. Jared isn't a spring bloomer, it seems - he had a 10.61 ERA last year in Florida, but put up a 2.28 number during the season. The starters, Juan Nicasio and Kyle Lobstein, looked good. Kinda odd; one's a reliever that's being stretched and the other is a starter being downsized. Guess the FO wants everyone to be all things.

Offensively, the Bucs did fine; seven different guys drove in runs and eight different guys touched home. Good thing they're getting good at small ball, tho - the club is still looking for its first spring dinger. The Pirates continue to run hot and cold on the basepaths. In the field, Willie Garcia showed off his gun while on the other side of the pillow, John Jaso forgot to cover first on a comebacker...but the good news is that so far, he hasn't made the same mistake twice. P-Flo got more time in the outfield today; a Swiss Army knife got nuthin' on a Bucco utility player.

John Jaso - not as easy as it looks (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Here's yesterday's box score. Slow camp, so we thought we'd take a quick peek at the walking wounded:

• Cory Luebke has been throwing with no limitations, so we can assume his hammy has healed and he's close to getting back on the bike again. Maybe he'll see some action with a split game coming up Thursday.
• Cole Tucker, who had labrum surgery last season and was projected to miss 2016, has been throwing and now looks like be able to get a big hunk of this campaign under his belt. That's great developmental news; you hate to have a 19 year old first rounder on the shelf for too long.
• Antoan Richardson, who was a mystery signee said to be faster than Speedy Gonzales, still hasn't gotten into action as he's recovering from a broken foot. 
• Don't forget Nick Kingham when talking about young guns. He's about rehabbed from TJ surgery and should be starting at Indy sooner rather than later. He may have been the pitcher closest to major league ready entering the 2015 season. 
• And nope, no Jung Ho updates. When he starts baserunning - maybe this coming week - and how his wheel holds up will tell the tale on his recovery.