Saturday: Giants-Bucs, Cool Chad v Matt Moore, Lineup, Notes

Today: San Francisco and Pittsburgh get it on at 4:05 PM. The game will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan with free t-shirts as today's swag. The weather is iffy with a 25% chance of rain, with the best bet for drops around six PM.

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Jose Osuna LF, Cutch CF, David Freese 3B, Josh Bell 1B, Elias Diaz C, Gregory Polanco RF, Max Moroff SS & Chad Kuhl P. Jordy gets a day off as does Stew; Freeser is back on duty. Odd linep spot for Joey O, but there is no obvious two-hole choice in a RH lineup. We're a little surprised Fraze is sitting with Matt Moore's reverse split, but hey...

Mad Max - leadoff last start, eight-hole today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: Chad Kuhl (2-6, 5.58) faces Matt Moore (3-8, 6.04). The 24-year-old Kuhl is making his 16th start of the season and hasn't gotten more than five innings of work in his last dozen outings. In his last seven games, Chad has four solid appearances and has shaved his ERA by more than a run per game over that span after posting a high of 6.69 on May 18th. Two things to note - he's 1-4/7.36 in eight home starts this season and lefties are batting .354 (150 OPS+) against Chad. He's never faced the Giants. Moore has hit the skids this year, and like Kuhl, he raises a couple of red flags - though he's a southpaw, lefties have lit him up to the tune of a .366 BA/152 OPS+ (he has a lifetime reverse split, but much less pronounced than this season's) and he's been horse feathers on the road with a 1-4/8.39 slash. He's gone against Pittsburgh once, giving up five runs in six frames at AT&T last August.

Notes:

• Sizzlin' - JJ is 6-for-13 with three doubles and a homer in his last three starts.
• The Bucs hit .261 with 27 home runs and 129 runs scored during June and posted a 4.71 team ERA.
• Today’s game is the 81st of the season, the halfway point of the schedule.