Wednesday: Pirates & Phils, Cole Train v Ben Lively, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: Pittsburgh at Philadelphia begins at 7:05 PM. The game will be aired on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, John Jaso LF, Cutch CF, Josh Bell 1B, David Freese 3B, Greg Polaco RF, Fran Cervelli C, Jordy Mercer SS & Gerrit Cole P. Clint's lineup is returning to normal.

The up-and-down Cole Train rolls tonight (photo MLB.com) 

Pitchers: Gerrit Cole (6-7, 4.51) gets the call in round three of the Keystone State rivalry against Ben Lively (1-3, 3.72). After a sharp string of outings, Gerrit was toasted by the Giants in his last outing, snapping his personal three game winning streak. Hopefully that game was an outlier and not another dip in the roller-coaster ride. Cole Train has been solid against the Phils, slashing 3-3/3.45 in six career starts. Philadelphia swept him last year - Cole was 0-2 in two starts losing a 4-0 decision that he pitched well in at PNC and then dropping a 6-2 match that lasted just two innings for him at Citizens Bank. Lively was called up in June and has been effective for the Phils, giving up three or fewer runs in six of his seven starts while also lasting six innings or more in all but one outing. He's a pitch-to-contact guy (13 K in 38-2/3 IP, just three whiffs per nine) with an even grounder/fly split who hasn't gotten much run support from his teammates. His ERA is outpacing his FIP by a run (4.91) and his SIERA (6.13) by a wide margin, so he may be due for a visit by the regression gods. Lively has never faced the Pirates.

Notes:

• Cutch recorded his 14th career multi-home run game yesterday, passing Roberto Clemente and Brian Giles on the franchise list. The only two players in team history with more multi-home run games are Hall-of-Famers Ralph Kiner and Willie Stargell, who had 36 apiece.
• Stew has been behind the plate for the team’s last three shutouts; there have five over the campaign with Fran calling the other pair.
• J-Bell got his first break of the year yesterday; he had played in all 83 games before getting a blow, starting in 73 of those contests.
• When Cervy came off the DL on July 3rd, it marked the first time the Pirates didn't have anyone MIA due to injury since April 24th. They've lost a total of 248 games with injuries to eight players (Cervelli twice) this season, not counting the spells they've carried guys with minor tweaks who sat. They've also had Jung Ho Kang (DUI visa issues) and Starling Marte (PED suspension) on the restricted list for 155 contests to date.