Pirates Open At PNC Park w/Jamo v Lynn; Notes - Musgrove to DL

Today: The Pirates take on the Twins at 1:05. The game will be carried by AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan, with those attending getting a magnetic schedule to stick on their refrigerator door and a calendar for wherever. The last time they played interleague was in 2015, when they had two-game home and home series. They split, with each team sweeping the road games. More recently, the Bucs met the Twinkies four times in Grapefruit League play, finishing 3-1. Let's hope they can stay awake for the contest; they had 15 or so hours with a flight and drive home between ending the game at Detroit and the first pitch in Pittsburgh today.

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Gregor Polanco RF, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Fran Cervelli C, Colin Moran 3B, Jordy Mercer SS & Jameson Taillon P.

Pitchers: RHP Jameson Taillon (8-7/4.44) takes on RHP Lance Lynn (11-8, 3.43). With a clean bill of health and a strong spring showing in the books, Jamo is making his first start as team ace now that Gerrit Cole is spinning in Texas. How well the 26-year-old can handle that role is pivotal for Pittsburgh not only this year but into the future. So step one of the journey begins today. Lance fell into the Twinkies' lap. The 30-year-old was looking for five-year deal and found no takers, so he's looking to rebuild some value with a one-year agreement on the cheap ($12M) with Minnesota that wasn't inked until March 10th. As an old Card, Lance has faced the Bucs often and not particularly effectively, with a 7-7/5.10 slash in 23 outings while Taillon has never thrown against the Twins.

Notes:

• Guess it didn't work out that well in Florida - the Pirates have placed RHP Joe Musgrove on the 10-day DL retroactive to March 30th with a muscle strain in his right shoulder. They've recalled RHP Clay Holmes.
• Chip Ganassi will toss the honorary first pitch before today's game while El Roy Face will forkball the ceremonial first pitch. God Bless America and the National Anthem will be performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Cello Quartet. During the pregame ceremony, there will be a moment of silence for Pirates alumni Ross Powell, Manny Jimenez, Al Luplow, Bob Bailey, Laurin Pepper and Curt Raydon, as well as longtime official scorer Tony Krizmanich, all of whom have passed away in the last year.
• Felipe Rivero, with two outings yesterday, and Tyler Glasnow, who tossed 37 pitches, will be out of action today. The last two Pirates to save both ends of a doubleheader before Rivero were Mark the Shark in 2016 and Matt Capps in 2007.
• Today's headcount will be interesting as a 14-year Opening Day sellout streak is at risk. Maybe the Tiger sweep and Jamo will fire up the fence-sitters, despite the weather.
• Here's Baseball Almanac's list of all the Bucco Home Openers and scores. 
• Yay freebies - Chick-fil-A locations in and around the Pittsburgh area will give a free chicken sandwich to any customer wearing official Pirates attire Monday. The promotion lasts from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.