Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Wednesday: Pittsburgh - Milwaukee, Williams v Junior Guerra, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: The game starts at 8:10 and will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan as the Pirates go for three-in-a-row in Milwaukee.

Lineup: Adam Frazier LF, Josh Harrison 2B, John Jaso RF, David Freese 3B, Josh Bell 1B, Cutch CF, Jordy Mercer SS, Stew C & Trevor Williams P. JJ gets a spin on the merry-go-round and Fran is still out; he had a flu bug.

Trevor will do the spinning tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: Trevor Williams (3-3, 5.16) tries to keep the good times rollin' against Junior Guerra (1-1, 2.84). Trevor will be making his ninth start and it's been a series of ups-and downs; his last couple of outings have been decidedly meh.  A key is how he comes out of the blocks; he's given up 11 runs in the first inning of the 25 total tallies he's surrendered as a starter. He's faced the Brew Crew once in a relief appearance last year, allowing a run in 2-2/3 IP. Junior is a pitch-to-contact guy who's been solid. His last couple of outings have been just fair, though, and he's given up four homers in his past 17 IP, not a good look for Miller Park. He has been tough on the Pirates in four outings (three starts) - he's 1-0/1.42 against them. This will be his first trip to the hill in 2017 v the Buccos.

Notes:
  • Jordy has a 10-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 27 of his last 32 games. Cutch has a 10-game hitting streak at Miller Park, going 19-for-43 with four home runs and 13 RBI.
  • Andrew has hit 14 or more home runs in nine straight seasons. The only Pirate with more consecutive seasons of 14+ homers was Willie Stargell, who did so in 13 straight campaigns between 1964 and 1976.
  • Bounce-back kid: Huddy has been scored on just twice (three runs total) in his last 15 appearances (14-1/3 IP, 1.88 ERA).
  • Just when yer ready to write them off...the Pirates have gone 7-3 since Miami beat them June 9th. At the time, it was the Bucs fourth straight loss, putting them nine games under .500.

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