Sunday: Cards-Bucs Rubber Match, Jamo v John Gant, Lineup, Notes

Today: The Kids Day matinee starts at 1:35 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. Thw swag will be kids warm-up jerseys foir the 14-and-under fans. The last weekend home match is also Fan Appreciation Day with prizes like gift cards, 2018 Pirates tickets and game-worn jerseys given away.

Lineup: Chris Bostick 2B, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, Jose Osuna 1B, Sean Rodriguez 3B, Jordan Luplow RF, Max Moroff SS, Jacob Stallings C, Jameson Taillon P. About time Bo and J-Stalls got in. We like seeing the kids play, though we are a little surprised that the regulars didn't start on Fan Day.

Jamo gets the ball today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: Jameson Taillon (7-7, 4.73) closes out the set against John Gant (0-0, 3.86). Jamo's last start was a 3-0 loss to the Brewers at PNC Park Monday. He's set MLB career highs in starts (23; he had 28 last year between Pittsburgh & Indy) and innings pitched (121-2/3; he worked 165-2/3 IP last year at all levels; he has 135-2/3 this year). We're still not sure what more he has to show this season, but they keep running him out there even though he's 0-2/5.46 in his last half-dozen appearances. He's 0-1/5.14 in four career starts against the Cards. In three outings this year, he's lost once by a 4-0 count and gotten two no-decisions. Gant joined the Redbirds last year as part of the Jaime Garcia deal and was called up from Memphis in September. The sinkerballer is making his first MLB start, bumping another young gun, Jack Flaherty, to the pen because of both performance & workload issues. Gant worked an inning of relief against the Bucs a couple of weeks ago, giving up a hit and picking up a K.

Notes:

• Starling has been heating up. He's gone 6-for-14 (.429) with a double, a triple, three RBI and three stolen bases in his last four games. Jordy has a five-game hitting steak after his 3-for-3 night.
• Jordy was taken out of last night's game a homer short of a cycle, but it wasn't a matter of emptying the bench. He's been playing through tendinitis in his knee and it acted up, so Clint gave him a blow with the game in hand.
• There are two home games left on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (the Pirates are off tomorrow) against the Orioles. The Bucs are 41-37 as the home club (counting the Williamsport victory) guaranteeing a winning home campaign.
• The Cards could have a last hurrah left in them: after today, the finish out at Busch against the Cubs and Brewers.