Lineup: John Jaso RF, Jordan Luplow LF, Cutch CF, Josh Bell 1B, David Freese 3B, Jordy Mercer SS, Sean Rodriguez 2B, Stew C, Gerrit Cole P. September Sunday lineup.
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| Cole Train toes the slab (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates) |
Pitchers: Gerrit Cole (11-10, 4.04) tries to get that pesky ERA under four today as he takes on Robert Stephenson (4-5, 5.45). Cole Train's last start was a 5-2 loss in Milwaukee; everyone oohed and aahed over his 10 K in six innings when the important number was the five runs. Still, he's been solid, going 8-4/3.50 over his last 17 starts. Cole Train has been a road warrior, slashing 7-1/2.90 in his last nine away outings. Traditionally, he's been thoroughly El Stinko v the Reds, but this year he's been good, bad and in-between, so we could see a gem as easily as a lump of coal. Like Sal Romano yesterday, Stephenson is overcoming some early rough waters with a nice stretch starting in August. He's gone 4-1/2.97 since then, throwing strikes (60%), notching whiffs (40 in 33-1/3 IP) and holding opponents to a .218 BA with his Achilles Heel being walks/pitch counts. In that six week span, he's faced the Bucs twice and held them to three runs in 11-1/3 frames, with Cincy taking both decisions.
Notes:
- The Pirates were officially eliminated from playoff contention last night.As a sidebar, the loss left them 6-12 v the Redlegs this season.
- Starling has been out the past couple of days with a sore shoulder; he's day-to-day.
- After this afternoon's game, the Pirates head home for the start of an eight-game homestand against Milwaukee tomorrow. After a day off Thursday, the Bucs host St. Louis for three games and then close out the home schedule against Baltimore on September 26-27th after another day off on Monday.
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