Williams v Flaherty & Notes on Fireworks Night

Today: The game starts at 7:05 and will be on AT&T Sportsnet and 93.7 The Fan. It's slated to be a Zambelli Fireworks Night; it's supposed to be dry but cloudy, with temps in the mid-40s.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte CF, J-Bell 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Fran Cervelli C, Colin Moran 3B, Jordy SS & Trevor Williams P. The A-Team lineup worked last night, albeit after a slow start, so here it is again.

Fraze sticks at leadoff (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (3-1, 2.15) v RHP Jack Flaherty (0-0, 1.80). Willy has been consistently good so far, getting into the sixth inning of every start and not allowing more than two runs in any outing. His only soft spot is command; he throws a lot of pitches (15 walks in 29-1/3 IP) and while he gets to the sixth, he's usually sitting out the seventh. Trevor hasn't had much luck v the Redbirds with a line of 1-2/8.15 ERA in six career appearances (three starts). He was 0-2/8.78 last year in three starts. Flaherty got a start earlier in the year when Adam Wainwright was on the DL; Waino is on it again and Flaherty is his replacement again. He features a heater/slider combo and is part of the pipeline of good young pitching in the Cards system.

Notes:

• Tyler Glasnow has 11 whiffs in his last two outings covering 6-2/3 IP.
• J-Hay is starting to take infield again, with a catcher's mitt hybrid rather than a regular infielder's glove.
• The Pirates are 15-11 record. They've won 16 games by the end of April just once, when the 1988 team posted a 16-6 mark.
• Last night's rally was Pittsburgh’s first five-run comeback since beating the Brewers, 7-6 in 11 innings, at PNC Park on September 13th, 2015.
• The Pirates are 6-2 against their own division this season after finishing 33-43 v NL Central foes last year.
• Clint is one win shy of becoming the fifth manager in club history to record 600 victories,joining Fred Clarke (1422), Danny Murtaugh (1115), Jim Leyland (851) and Chuck Tanner (711).He has 1,133 big league wins in his career, fifth among active skippers.

Joe's a busy man lately (photo via MLB.com)

• Joe Musgrove threw out the first pitch today - of the Brookline Baseball Association, to help them celebrate Opening Day for Little League. He's scheduled to make his first three-inning rehab start with High-A Bradenton on Tuesday.