Bucs Rained Out; Notes, Dreary Pix

Supposed to be a nice afternoon break in the precip (weather dude missed that one!) and so it was time to play ball on a Bucs and Pucks duet in Pittsburgh.

Christhian Adames has taken a liking to Bucco pitching; he doubled off Juan Nicasio with one gone in the opening frame. Nolan Arenado got a heater down the middle and tripled (Josh dropped the relay or it would have been interesting at third) on ball to the Notch that Marte almost, but not quite, outran. But Nicasio came back strong with a whiff and grounder to keep it at one run. A fairly heavy burst of rain passed over as the Bucs hit against Chad Bettis; they went 1-2-3 and stayed in the dugout as the tarp came out. Sadly, the only bright spot in North Side was Pittsburgh's throwback unis.

PNC Park this afternoon; Gothic photo taken by Buc broadcasterJoe Block

The tarp came up; the tarp went back down. It rained and thundered intermittently. As time marched on, the crowd transferred its affections to the uptown team and exited toward Consol Center or their TVs to catch the Penguins game. A surprising number did hang around, tho, perhaps anticipating a battle of the bullpens and the slugfest that was likely to develop.

But after 3:37 of dead time, the FO gave up the ghost and called the game. No makeup has been scheduled yet, although both clubs are off tomorrow and it remains a possibility. Then again, maybe the Bucs are scouring the schedule to see if they can repay the Rox for rescheduling the Coors Field rainout in the middle of a Pirates homestand. Just sayin'...

If the game does get played tomorrow, the Bucs announced that Ryan Vogelsong will get the start.Instead of pushing everyone back a day, the Pirates will skip Nicasio's turn and keep everyone else in rotation. (EDIT - today's game was rescheduled for tomorrow at 12:35pm. RHP Ryan Vogelsong will face RHP Jordan Lyles.)

• JJ has three straight multi-hit games. 
• JHK's hand was good enough that he would have been available off the bench today.
• In case you were wondering, the stadium music that came on as the tarp was being rolled on the field was the Boss' "Cover Me."
• John Dreker of Pirates Prospects reported that Trevor Williams began his rehab today with an outing for Bradenton. Did pretty well, too. He tossed five shutout innings, giving up four hits, zero walks and whiffing four using 62 pitches, so he may be Indy-bound sooner rather than later.
• Another project is working his way into shape during extended spring training. Justin Masterson threw four innings in an exhibition, and Neal Huntington said on his Sunday radio show that his velocity is coming back.

A fan amuses himself during the delay (photo Matthew Carlins/CBS - and S/O to Mary!)