Friday: Bucs at Reds, Nova v Robert Stephenson. Lineup (Cervy Back, Eli Gone), Notes

Tonight: Pittsburgh is at Cincinnati with first pitch at 7:10. AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan will air the game. And it's the start of Players Weekend. The teams will wear alternate uniforms and each player is allowed to wear his nickname on the back of his jersey with a patch on his sleeve to pay tribute to a person or persons, like during last week's Little League Classic. The monikers and patches selected by the Bucco's are listed here, compliments of MLB.com's Adam Berry.

Lineup: Starling Marte CF, Josh Harrison 2B, Adam Frazier LF, Josh Bell 1B, David Freese 3B, John Jaso RF, Fran Cervelli C, Jordy Mercer SS, Ivan Nova P. Starling got a day off, now it's Cutch's turn so Fraze will get his first shot from the three-hole this season. Fran's also back.

Ivan on the bump (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: Ivan Nova (11-10, 3.81) vs. Robert Stephenson (1-4, 6.13). Ivan won a 6-3 decision against St. Louis Sunday night in the Little League Classic in Williamsport. While he's had a bumpy ride this year, he has been a boon to the bullpen. Nova's pitched at least six innings in 21 of his first 25 starts. He may be rounding back into shape, allowing four earned runs over his last two outings (11-2/3 IP). Super Nova is 3-4 /4.20 in seven career starts against the Reds, with not much success this season. He's gone 0-2/5.25 in two starts. losing 9-3 and 4-2. Stephenson has been on a roll; in his last three outings, he's 1-0/1.42, fueled by an unsustainable .118 BABIP.  This will be his second start since coming off the DL with a bruised rotator cuff. He's allowed five runs in 10-1/3 innings over three games (one start) versus Pittsburgh this year. That start was at the beginning of August and he was excellent, holding the Buccos to a run on two hits over 5-2/3 IP.

Notes:

• Cervy passed his baseball activities test today and was reinstated from the DL; Elias Diaz was returned to Indy.
• Cincy is 11-11 in August; the Pirates are 10-12 after losing 9-of-12. The Reds are 8-2 v the Pirates, yet seven games behind them...strange brew.
• Felipe Rivero has not allowed a hit to a left-handed hitter in 40 straight at bats.
• Cutch has 1,431 career hits, tying him with Bill Virdon for 15th place on Pittsburgh’s all-time hit list. Dick Groat is 14th on the list with 1,435 hits and Dave Parker is 13th with 1,479. He should make a move on them this weekend - Andrew has reached base safely in 34 consecutive games at GABP, a streak dating back to September 27th, 2013.