Cards Visit, Brault v Mikolas & Notes - Kang to Camp, Kingham Starts Sunday

Today: The game is at 7:05 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. The first 20,000 fans get an umbrella; they may need it. And tonight is the "Phil Coyne 100th Birthday Celebration" as a legend is celebrated. The Pirates will present Phil with a proclamation from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and his usher's uniform and ID card will be on permanent display in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte CF, J-Bell 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Fran Cervelli C, Colin Moran 3B,Jordy SS & Steven Brault P. It's the A-Team lineup tonight against the Redbirds.

Brault on the bump (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: Steven Brault (2-1, 4.44) starts against Miles Mikolas (3-0, 3.46). Steven tossed decently last outing after a couple of lackluster appearances. He's been a classic nibbler, and gets himself into hitters counts and high pitch totals more than is advisable. He's 0-0/3.38 in two career appearances (one start) against the Redbirds, but has just eight innings of work against them. Miles was on the Bucco roster in 2013, coming over with Jaff Decker from San Diego in the Alex Dickerson deal (you might recall him as the "Lizard King," a nickname earned after he ate a lizard in the bullpen while in the Padres system), but never tossed here. He was shipped to the Rangers for Chris McGuiness a few weeks later. Mikolas hit a wall, then went to Japan for three years where he excelled, and he's back in the bigs and doing well for the Cards, using mid-90s heat and efficient command. Miles has made four starts; he was roughed up in the pair against the Brewers but was light outs in the other two against the Reds. MM hasn't faced the Buccaneers since 2012.

Notes:

• Nothing new here - the Cards are red hot. The Redbirds (15-9) are coming off a 5-1 homestand and are enjoying a 10-of-12 stretch of wins. The Pirates were 6-4 against the Birdies at PNC last year.
• Clint told the media mob that Nick Kingham will be Sunday's spot starter.

Red Beard likes home cookin' (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

• Colin Moran has taken a liking to his Steel City home - he's hitting .441 with two homers and 12 RBI in 12 games at PNC Park this season.
• AJ Schugel continues his rehab; he tossed two scoreless innings at Indy on Tuesday.
• Kang will report to Pirate City Monday; Neal Huntington said that the team and MLB won't add any more punishment, feeling that the time missed was sufficient.
• Baseball America's poll had PNC Park as baseball's second best ballyard, between AT&T Park in San Francisco and Camden Yards in Baltimore. 
• Hayden Hurst was a first-round pick last night in the NFL draft. If the name sounds familiar, it's because the Pirates picked the 1B/P in the 17th round of the 2012 MLB draft. The Pirates signed him for $400K, but he caught Steve Blass disease, switched to first and finally walked on to South Carolina to play football after three years in the Pittsburgh system. Ends up he's a better tight end than hurler.