Wednesday: Ryan Vogelsong v Edwin Jackson, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: The opening pitch is due at 7:05 and the game will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan. Just one caution: the tarp was rolled out about 4:15, so we'll have to see if the drearies continue through the night.

Pitchers: Ryan Vogelsong (1-1, 3.25) takes on Edwin Jackson (2-2, 5.00). The last time Vogey took the bump in Pittsburgh was pretty horrific; he deserves some TLC karma this outing. Of course, he may not need it - in three starts, he's put up a 1.38 ERA with a .198 OBA. Jackson had a revival last year, and he's pitching OK for the Padres this season. Since he's claimed a spot in the rotation, 3-of-4 four starts have been pretty solid. The 14-year vet has faced the Bucs 19 times and is 9-3, 3.92 lifetime; he's probably due for a little chomp of karma himself.

V-Song climbs the hill (photo Joe Guzy/Pirates)

Lineup: Josh 2B, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, Gregory Polanco RF, Freeser 1B, Jung Ho Kang 3B, Fran C, Jordy SS, V-Song P. Looks like this is the lineup Clint's gonna run with for a bit with Josh at the top and Gregory in the middle. Why not? J-Hay has spent about 1/3 of his career as the leadoff guy and has a .303/.343/.457 slash in 163 games at the spot, so sounds good to us. El Coffee said he prefers to be in the middle of the order, and he does lead the club in HR & RBI. Jaso still has a shiner from a dust-up at home last night, so that's why JHK & Freeser are on the corners.

• @joe_block tweeted  that the Pirates at 22-15 have the best winning % in the NL over the last seven weeks, or since 6/23. Going into tonight, they are 1-1/2 games behind the Marlins for the second wild card spot. It's a tight pack so far - the Pirates, Cardinals (+1 game) and Marlins are all even in the loss column with 54 defeats each.
• Stew and Tyler Glasnow will both begin rehab stints at Altoona this weekend. 
• It was team photo day ( this snap was taken by @adamdberry ) Seems kinda odd to have The Shark, Frankie and even Jon Niese missing from the photo.