Wednesday: Bucs-Giants Finale, Trevo v Jeff Samardzija, Lineup, Notes

Today: The Pirates close out against San Francisco at 3:45. The game will be on AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Starling Marte LF, Josh Harrison 3B, Cutch CF, Josh Bell 1B, John Jaso RF, Fran Cervelli C, Adam Frazier 2B, Jordy Mercer SS & Trevor Williams P. Sorta surprised that Fran isn't getting a blow. Freeser was due a day of rest, so the lineup has a Sunday kinda look to it.

Trevo looking to win the rubber match (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: Trevor Williams (4-4, 4.74) closes the set against Jeff Samardzija (4-11, 5.05) in a rematch from early July. In his past 13 starts, Williams has slashed 3-2/4.21 in 72-2/3 innings pitched. He  has a 51% ground ball rate, keeps the ball in the park, having surrendered a home run in just three of his last 11 outings, and worked at least six innings in four of his last six starts. Trevo has won three of his last four road decisions. He's not been top-of-the-rotation material, but for a back ender has been plenty effective. Williams has faced the G-Men once this year and gave up three hits and two runs while taking a 2-0 lead into the 7th inning on 7/2 at PNC Park; was in line for the win before the bullpen imploded in a 5-3 loss. Samardzija has nice peripherals - 10 K and one walk per nine innings, 1.200 WHIP and a shiny 3.15 xFIP - but he's been serving up gopher balls with regularity. He's also faced the Bucs once this year and won that 5-2 game that Trevor started, giving up six hits and two runs in six frames with one ball leaving the yard. The Shark has seen Pittsburgh plenty, going 5-4/2.97 in 26 appearances (13 starts) during his career.

Notes:

• J-Hay is on a three-game multi-hit streak.
• Lefty love: Felipe Rivero is one save shy of matching fellow southpaw Tony Watson with a team-high 10 saves this season. It would mark the first time in club history that the Pirates have had two left-handed pitchers earn 10 or more saves in the same season since saves became official in 1969. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this has happened only three times in MLB history; John Rocker (24) and Mike Remlinger (12) with the Braves in 2000, Mitch Williams (16) and Paul Assenmacher (10) with the Cubs in 1990 and Dave Righetti (25) and Lee Guetterman (13) with the Yankees in 1989.
• When he's healthy, Cervy gets no rest. Today will be his 15th start in 16 games since he came off the concussion DL.
• Dilson Herrera, now a Reds farmhand, will undergo surgery to remove bone spurs from his right shoulder. He's expected to miss the rest of the season.