Bucs-Cubs: Brault v Lester & Notes

Today: Tonight's game will start at 8:05 and will be carried by MLB Network and 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: J-Hay 2B, Jordy SS, Starling Marte CF, J-Bell 1B, Cervy C, Freeser 3B, Gregory Polanco RF, S-Rod LF, Steven Brault P. It's Clint's LHP lineup; Corey D and Red Beard take a seat against same-siders.

Put me in coach...Freeser gets a start (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: LHP Steven Brault (2-0/1.13) v LHP Jon Lester (1-0/2.89). Joe Musgrove is still out of action, but Steven has been pretty sharp so far, giving up five hits in eight innings with seven whiffs but an unsightly five walks/two wild pitches. We'll see if it helps; the Cubs have mauled him, as he has no record against them but a 7.90 ERA/2.488 WHIP in five outings, including two starts. Lester looks to get back on track after a sub par 2017, when the Bucs (and the league) rattled his cage a bit. He was 1-2/4.66 in four starts against the Pirates last season, though in his career he's been solid against Pittsburgh with a 5-5/3.23 slash in a dozen starts.

Notes:

• Per @StatsbySTATS, Josh Harrison is the first Pirates player with at least 14 hits and 12 runs through the team’s first 10 games since Rabbit Maranville in 1922 (16 hits, 12 runs). 
• Per @ESPNStatsInfo - The Pirates have scored 66 runs so far, their most through the first 10 games of a season since 1923.
• This is Pittsburgh's first 4-0 road start since 2003. That's a nice opening flip from last year's 31-50 road mark. 
• Tom Dorsa of Baseball Essentials says the Bucs are one of the teams that you should curb your enthusiasm over.
• Dustin Dopirak of Baseball America has a piece on young 'un Lolo Sanchez with a couple of brief notes on Austin Meadows and Kevin Kramer.
• JJ Hoover, an alum of Elizabeth-Forward HS, has been DFA'ed by the Brewers. 
• Forbes Magazine has its MLB team values . The Pirates pulled down $35M in 2017 operating revenue, 10th in the league.The team itself is worth $1.26 B, about the same as last report.
• You think ownership here is aloof? Try Derek Jeter's Miami Marlins, the Pirates next opponent. They're involved in a law suit against Miami-Dade County re: a dodge in the county getting a share of the sales transaction when Jeffrey Loria sold the team to Jeter's group. The Fish lawyers are trying to get a change in court venues by claiming they're an off-shore corporation based in the British Virgin Islands.