Sunday: One & Done - Brault v Gio Gonzalez, Lineup, Notes

Today: Another season concludes as the Bucs and Nats roll around for a final time with the first toss at 3:05. The game will be on AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Chris Bostick 2B, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, Josh Bell 1B, Dvid Freese 3B, Jordan Luplow RF, Max Moroff SS, Jake Stallings, Steven Brault P. Good to see Cutch is OK w/Bo & Jacob getting some work. We're still not sold on the Pirates catching situation going into next year and Stallings conceivably could play a role.

Brault on the bump (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: Steven Brault (1-0, 3.86) closes out the campaign against Gio Gonzalez (15-7, 2.68). Steven deserves the last look. He trumped Trevo (7-9, 4.07 overall; 6-8, 3.96 in 25 starts) for the ball, who has already done a pretty good job of showing his stuff to the brass. Steven will be making his fourth start (11th appearance) and he's coming off three IP of relief Tuesday to earn his first MLB save in Pittsburgh’s 10-1 win over the Orioles. He's getting comfortable at this level and is sharper in his usual rotation role with a 1-0/2.81 slash in his three starts. Brault has never faced the Nationals. Gio is an old workhorse who's put together a pretty good year. He has trouble hitting 90 and relies a lot on his curve and change now, but the 32-year-old lefty has been around the block and has been hitting his spots much more often than not. A lefty junker against the Bucs? Yikes! He may be wearing down a bit - his last five starts have seen him go 2-3/4.82 and only get past the sixth once. Gonzalez is 4-0/3.09 lifetime against the Bucs but hasn't seen them yet this year.

Notes:

• Starling has an 11-game hitting streak and Andrew has a six-game string.
• So who had this in the March poll? Fraze has been Pittsburgh’s most-used leadoff batter this season, hitting #1 in 63 games. He batted .260/.334 OBP, sub-par for him (.301/.356 overall), with seven of his nine swipes from that spot while the club went 33-30 in those starts.

Fraze has mixed results at the top of the lineup (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

• The Pirates have made 97 errors heading into this afternoon. Only twice before in their 131-year history have the Bucs ended a full season with fewer than 100 errors - they made a league-low 73 errors in 2009 and 83 in 2007.
• If u were wondering whatever happened to: Tony Watson is doing quite nicely (2-1, 2.70, 24 GA) in LA as a multi-role (but not closer) bullpen arm. Juan Nicasio is 2-0-4, 1.64 for the Cards in nine games. Jhan Martinez has  a 2.35 ERA at Texas in four trips to the hill while Tyler Webb has a 5.62 ERA in nine games between the NY Yankees and Milwaukee. Antonio Bastardo was never claimed by another team and is a FA. Alen Hanson has played several spots (OF, DH, 2B, 3B) for the White Sox, hitting .236 in 172 PAs.
• Tonight was Teke's final appearance as a regularly scheduled talking head for the Pirates.
• The Pirates are collecting goods for Puerto Rican relief Monday and Tuesday from 6-to-6 by the Mazeroski Way cul-de-sac outside PNC Park. Bob Nutting, players, coaches & staff will fly to the island to deliver the supplies.