Friday: Pirates-Reds, Kuhl v Homer Bailey, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: The weekend joust at Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park begins at 7:10 and will be on AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Jordan Luplow LF, Cutch CF,Josh Bell 1B, David Freese 3B, Greg Polanco RF, Elias Diaz C, Max Moroff SS, Chad Kuhl. This is a September lineup; still can't figure why Freeser doesn't get a blow sometimes.

Chad closing out strong (photo Joe Guzy/Pirates)

Pitchers: Chad Kuhl (7-10, 4.21) vs. Homer Bailey (4-8, 7.26). The 25-year-old Cool Chad will be making his 30th start of the season (who had that on their 2017 prediction list?), and he's gone 5-4/2.99 in his last 14 with his slider becoming a wipe-out pitch. He gave up just two hits and two runs (one earned) in six frames Saturday night but received a no-decision in a 4-3 Bucco loss to the Cards. Good news: His 0.79 HR/per nine ratio is the second-lowest in the NL behind Stephen Strasburg (0.75). Bad news: He's lost his last three road decisions and only has won once away from PNC, that game being in July against Philly. He's faced the Reds once, pitching seven scoreless innings in winning a 6-0 decision in August at PNC Park. Homer's problem lately has been going one inning over the line; he's been working six strong frames only to have the wheels fall off later, so look for him to maybe have a shorter leash although the Reds bullpen isn't exactly shutdown. Bailey won his only start against the Pirates this season, tossing six innings of one-run, four-hit ball on August 1st.

Notes:

• The Bucs have gone 6-10 against the Reds this season, winning the last two games and four of the last five after a dismal start.
• Cutch’s 532 career extra-base hits rank seventh in club history behind six Hall-of-Famers: Willie Stargell (953), Honus Wagner (865), Paul Waner (852), Roberto Clemente (846), Pie Traynor (593) and Max Carey (590). He won't catch any of them this year, and one of the off-season's big questions is if he'll be back to continue the chase in 2018.
• A for effort - Cervy is running bases and doing some catching as he's making a pretty determined bid to get off the DL and see some action before the season ends.

Hey, don't forget me, sez Amore (photo Pittsbirgh Pirates)

• Speaking of catchers, maybe we shouldn't fall asleep on Jacob Stallings. The 27-year-old hit .301 with 16 doubles, four homers and 38 RBI in 62 games for Indy and finished the AAA regular season with a 10-game hitting streak. He's always had the defensive chops; hard to tell if the bat is blooming late or if the bat gods have looked kindly upon him this year.
• Altoona won the Eastern League title 4-2 over Trenton yesterday. Pitcher Mitch Keller had a big day on the hill, reliever Johnny Hellweg danced out of a bases-loaded, one-out spot in the eighth, closer Tate Scioneaux brought it home and on the attack, C Jin-De Jhang tripled with the bases packed to give the Curve the crown. It was their first since 2010; they also won that one against Trenton.
• The Pirates have announced their instruct roster; it includes 104 players, almost all from Class A and lower (there are a handful of Curve players included) that will spend a few weeks in Florida sharpening up their games. The are several prospects: P's Mitch Keller, Taylor Hearn, Shaz Bane, Braedon Ogle & Brandon Waddell w/position guys Stephen Alemais, Kevin Kramer, Wyatt Mathison and Cole Tucker.