Friday: Reds in Town, Cole v Luis Castillo, Lineup, Notes (Juan Gone, Frenchy & Joaquin Back, Nova Skipped, No Call Ups)

Tonight: Cincinnati  comes to town with opening pitch slated for 7:05. The game will be carried by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. The post-game will feature Zambelli fireworks.

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, Josh Bell 1B, David Freese 3B, John Jaso RF, Jordy Mercer SS, Chris Stewart C and Gerrit Cole P. JJ and Stew sure get a lot of time considering the team wants to evaluate potential 2018 players, not that they called any up today.

Pitchers: Gerrit Cole (11-8, 3.99) in a rematch against Luis Castillo (2-7, 3.26). We're not gonna bury you in facts and figures today - just remember when these two matched up at GABP on the 26th that Cole Train tossed a seven-inning whitewash, and his homer was one of just four balls Castillo allowed to leave the infield in his seven frames with nine K. There are no guarantees in baseball, but you'll get your moneys worth if the second round is as well played as the first meeting was.

Gerrit climbs the bump (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• Juan Nicasio was claimed by the Phillies. The situation played out as thought; the Pirates couldn't get him through August trade waivers as he was claimed as a block. This being his walk year, the FO cut him (and $600K) loose early and opened up the eighth inning for 2018 audition (Dovydas Neverauskas, Edgar Santana, maybe Tyler Glasnow or whoever). It's not a very big deal, just some end-of-year housekeeping. But as usual for the Pirates, the optics are terrible, especially with Philadelphia trolling them with the claim. Pity that the FO couldn't pull the trigger in July when they could have moved Juan for a decent return; they would have taken just as much fan abuse but at least had something to show for it.
• Ivan Nova will be skipped this time around and replaced by Steven Brault against the Cubs on September 5th; the team had said they we're going to be creative with the starting rotation this month.
• The Pirates have reinstated RHP Joaquin Benoit and LHP Wade LeBlanc from the 10-Day DL.
• The Bucs needed time to recuperate yesterday after dropping 13-of-18 games. Last year, they lost 11-of-13 starting in late August, had a brief strong run in the middle of the month and then lost 8-of-10 to close the year, so we're hopin' this September is a little more competitive than last season's 11-17 mark.

On the move (2014 Topps Chrome)

• Old nemesis Brandon Phillips is on the move again, going from the Braves to the Angels for former Bucco top pick C Tony Sanchez. The Bravos will be his fourth organization since he left the Pirates after the 2015 campaign, along with the Giants, Blue Jays and Haloes.
• Another Pittsburgh first-rounder, Pedro Alvarez, will join the Orioles today. He hit .239 w/26 HR for AAA Norfolk this year after a 2016 line of .249/22 HR with Baltimore. Petey played 1B/OF/DH this season.