Wednesday: Cool Chad v Gabriel Ynoa, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: The home season ends with the Baltimore Orioles match at 7:05, aired on AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, Josh Bell 1B, David Freese 3B, Gregory Polanco RF, Elias Diaz C, Sean Rodriguez SS, Chad Kuhl P. Jordy getting some down time; he has been an iron man despite having to play through a gimpy knee. And boy, sometimes we let our minds ponder a lineup with Jung Ho Kang batting between Andrew and J-Bell. The middle is something the FO has to address next season with or without JHK.

Pitchers: Chad Kuhl (7-11, 4.31) closes the home campaign against Gabriel Ynoa (2-2, 3.41). Chad will be making his 31st start of the season and hoping to keep the ball in the park tonight. He lasted 4-2/3 IP in losing a 4-2 decision  in Cincinnati when he gave up a career-high four home runs. Adding some off-speed stuff to his fastball/slider toolkit has produced some strong results with Chad slashing 5-5/3.25 ERA in his last 15 outings. The Bucs are now looking for a little more efficiency out of Kuhl, who has worked through seven IP just three times this year and hasn't made it to the sixth in 21 trips to the hill. Chad has faced Baltimore once in June and gave up one run in five innings of work, but got no decision in an extra-inning loss at Camden Yards. Ynoa is getting his fourth start for the Orioles as he's trying to open some eyes for 2018. He started in AAA (6-9, 5.25) but served as a long man when he first came up. Ynoa uses a fastball/slider combo and his last outing was his best, going eight IP against Tampa, giving up one run on five hits and stretching himself out to 94 pitches.

Chad's final trip to the PNC mound this year (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• Edgar Santana and Dan Runzler have each tossed six scoreless outings since being called up on September 10th. Dovydas Neverauskas also has six straight appearances without giving up a run; Johnny Barbato has gone five games w/o being dented. The pitchers are finishing strong - they've put up the lowest ERA (3.39) in the NL so far in September.
• The Pirates have gone 43-37 at home this season, with one win earned at Williamsport.
• The local baseball writers voted for their annual local honors winners and they are: Andrew McCutchen (Roberto Clemente Award for MVP); Felipe Rivero (Steve Blass Award for Top Pitcher) and Jordy Mercer (Chuck Tanner Award for Most Cooperative w/Press)
• Following the game tonight, the Pirates head for Washington, where the season will come to a close with a four-game series against the Nats.
• Matt Cain, 33 this weekend, will pitch one more game and retire. He was San Francisco's first-round pick in the 2002 draft, broke into the big leagues in 2005 and spent his entire 13-year career with the Giants, going 104-118 with a 3.69 ERA. He has a perfect game on his resume, and he & Tim Lincecum formed one of the great one-two punches in baseball.