Rockies Round 2, Williams v Bettis & Notes

Today: The first pitch is at 7:05 and the game will be aired by AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan. A white day will turn into a cold and windy night with temps in the upper-to-mid 30s.

Lineup: S-Rod 2B, Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte CF, J-Bell 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Fran Cervelli C, Colin Moran 3B, Jordy SS & Trevor Williams P. It's Rodriguez's turn at second base. This will be the 61st time in his career he's batted leadoff (spoiler alert - only 16 were starts. The others were during game switches); he's a career .265 hitter from the top of the order. Still, we suspect he's in that spot because Clint doesn't want to mess with the rest of a pretty successful lineup. There'd be some shufflin' if Starling or Cervy, the likely suspects, were moved up top.

Trevor hoping to keep the good times rollin' (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (3-0, 1.56) meets RHP Chad Bettis (2-0, 2.04). Trevor's done yeoman work so far, going into the sixth inning in all three starts and not surrendering more than two runs in any outing. He's taken on the Rox once last year and gave up five runs in 6-2/3 IP. Bettis is also off to a strong start, and like Williams pitches to contact, so don't expect many K's or a lot of solid wood tonight. He's tossed six times against the Buccos, the last in 2016, and hasn't had a lot of luck, posting an 0-2/6.26 line. A thing to watch for - the pair sport shiny ERA's, but Trevor's FIP is 3.89; Bettis' is even higher at 4.73, so both are due for some old fashioned regression.

Notes:

• Corey Dickerson has hit safely in 11 straight games and is looking to match a career-best 12-game hitting streak he had with the Rockies in 2014.
• Starling Marte has seven hits in his last nine at bats. The cold weather hasn't bothered his wheels any - he leads the NL with three triples and is second with five stolen bases.
• Joe Musgrove will throw a bullpen tomorrow. If he can get through the planned series of three side sessions without any pain, the next step will be a minor league rehab stint. 
• New Bucco Enny Romero was Felipe Vazquez's roomie in Washington.
• The Pirates' seven games at PNC Park this season had an average temperature of 38 degrees. And they're right on target tonight; it's supposed to be 39 when they toss the first pitch.
• April has always been Cutch's worst month and his start with the Giants is no exception - he's batting .203/.288/.339 with a 76 OPS+. But he usually rallies pretty quickly; May, June and July are traditionally his best months.