Sunday, August 27, 2017

Sunday; Pirates - Redlegs Finale; Jamo v Tyler Mahle, Lineup, Notes

Today: The Bucs meet Cincinnati in the rubber match at 1:10. The game will be on AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Starling Marte LF, Adam Frazier 2B, Cutch CF, Josh Bell 1B, Josh Harrison 3b, John Jaso RF, S-Rod SS, Elias Diaz C, Jameson Taillon P. Yep, a Sunday lineup. Jordy's b-day gift is a day off.

Jamo looking for a turnaround today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: Jameson Taillon (7-5, 4.85) concludes the set against Tyler Mahle (0-0, 0.00). Jamo walked five and gave up five runs in five innings in his last outing, so we're hoping the strike zone isn't a moving target for him today. He's been through a rough patch, going 2-3/8.24 in the eight starts since the break. Cincy won't be a walk in the park for him - JT is 1-2/7.01  in five career starts against the Reds and been bopped this year. He's 0-2/9.82 in three starts this campaign, so this isn't the ideal nine for him to start a rebound against. Mahle will make his major league debut (he's Cincy's #4 minor-league prospect) and is projected as a mid-rotation arm. He uses four pitches and depends on location rather than sheer stuff. The 22-year-old was promoted to AAA Louisville and was 3-4/2.73 with a 1.10 WHIP, showing good control and some ability to miss a bat. So we'll see what he's got today.

Notes:
  • By our count, this is the fifth time that Eli has been called up to the Pirates.
  • Felipe Rivero notched his 15th save last night, tying him with Tony Watson for the second-most games save by a Pirates lefty in a season. Mike "Gonzo" Gonzalez had 24 in 2006. Felipe has converted 15-of-16 save opps and worked five multi-inning saves.
  • The Pirates have nine walkoff wins (five by homer) this year. Two have been delivered by J-Hay with seven other Bucs playing the hero in the others.
  • Following the game today the Pirates head for Chicago, where they are slated to begin a three-game series Monday night. Pittsburgh, believe it or not, has posted a 5-1 record at Wrigley Field so far this season.

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