Saturday: Drew Hutchison v Robert Stephenson, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 and will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan. And if you missed Thursday's game, it's fireworks night again, yay! Be a patient human if you're going - town and the North Shore were already at apocalyptic traffic levels at 7 AM, and are likely to be a zoo yet when you get there for tonight's action. However, it should be dry - a passing shower or two is all that's called for until about 11 PM.

Pitchers: Drew Hutchison (1-0, 4.97) takes the ball in game three against Robert Stephenson (2-1, 3.12. It's Hutch's first Bucco outing, as the Pirates opted to skip Chad Kuhl's spot this time around after he suffered from a vague fatigue issue after his last, two-inning start. Drew isn't in any way, shape or form a rookie; he's logged 73 MLB starts (30-21, 4.85) for Toronto, including a couple earlier in the season even though he's just 24. He was 1-1, 4.50 is six Indy starts, so we'll see what he's got... This will be Stephenson's fourth MLB start. He's been solid enough, tho he will give up a long fly or two. After showing no swing-and-miss stuff in his first two outings, he whiffed nine in 5-1/3 IP against the Mets in his last contest, so he's still kinda looking for an identity in the show.

Hutch makes his Bucco bow (photo via MLB.com)

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Josh Bell RF, Cutch CF, Gregory Polanco LF, Jung Ho Kang 3B, John Jaso 1B, Fran Cervelli C, Jordy SS, Hutchison P. Starling's back is getting a little worrisome; we're also a little unsure why the big OBP guys are batting sixth and seventh. Just asking...

• Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors reported that the Bucs had competition for Ivan Nova's services; Texas was in the hunt, too.
• Pitchers Kelvin Marte and Curtis Partch, recently DFA'ed off the 40-man, have cleared waivers.