Saturday: Redbirds at PNC; Cole v Lance Lynn, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: Here comes St. Louis again, still with a playoff pulse and ready to roll at 7:05. The game will be on AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan. Free black tees are the swag for the first 20,000 fans.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, J-Bell 1B, David Freese 3B, Gregory Polanco RF, Elias Diaz C, Jordy Mercer SS, Gerrit Cole P. We're kinda surprised that J-Bell isn't getting a break; he's in the middle of a 5-for-42 slump over the past dozen games and has only gotten a blow twice this year. We also thought Stew might get behind the dish tonight with Cole Train on the hill and a day game tomorrow.

Cole Train goes today (photo AT&T SportsNet)

Pitchers: Gerrit Cole (11-11, 4.13) takes the hill against Lance Lynn (11-7, 3.09). Gerrit has been erratic this year. His last start was a 5-2 loss in Cincinnati on Sunday, but he has been pretty solid with a slash of 8-5/3.66 over his last 18 starts. On the down side, he's gotten just five runs of support in his last five starts (welcome to that club) and hasn't won a game at PNC Park since mid-June. Against the Redbirds this year, Gerrit is 1-1 in three starts with a no-decision (six IP/two runs) in a walkoff win on 7/14 at PNC Park, a 7-3 decision over today's opponent Lance Lynn in June at Busch Stadium (six IP/one run), and was the loser by a 2-1 count (six IP/two runs) to Michael Wacha in April at Busch, so he's been pretty tough on the Cards all season long. Lynn is pitching for more than the post-season; it's also his walk year and he and the Cards haven't been simpatico, so he wants to keep that stat line tidy. He's had a mixed bag against the Bucs this year with 2-1 and 4-0 wins and a 7-3 loss. Looks like another low-scoring game in the cards with the Cards tonight although both guys have had their weak moments.

Notes:

• Gerrit Cole has allowed 30 home runs this season, two away from tying the club record of 32 set by Murry Dickson in 1951.
• LHP Steven Brault and OF Jordan Luplow were named the Pirates' minor league pitcher and player of the year.
• Olympic swimming medalist Leah Smith of Mt. Lebanon & Oakland Catholic HS will throw out the first pitch tonight.
• The Pirates have two of the MLB's Top Ten all-time assist leaders in right field - as you might have guessed, The Great One is #1 with 260 toss outs (Henry Aaron is second at 186); Dave Parker came in seventh with 137. (s/o to @cocktailsfor2) El Coffee, btw, has 16, so he has a ways to go yet.