Buccos Welcome G-Men & Cutch to Town For a Three Game Set, Jamo v Suarez & Notes

Today: The first pitch at PNC Park will be at 7:05 as the Bucs open a nine-game home stand against the Giants. The game will be on AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan. It will be a free-tee night for the first 20,000 fans ("Raise the Jolly Roger") and yes, of course Cutch will get a video tribute, scheduled for the first-inning break.

Lineup: Max Moroff 2B, Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte CF, J-Bell 1B, Fran Cervelli C, David Freese 3B, S-Rod LF, Jordy SS & Chad Kuhl P. This is Clint's latest version of a lefty lineup (Saurez has huge splits in a small sample size); it looks like he doesn't trust Joey O's glove in the OF or all the lefties would be on the pine.

Jamo is on the bump, looking to build on hos last outing (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: LHP Andrew Suarez (1-1, 3.06) kicks it off against RHP Jameson Taillon (2-3, 4.42). Jamo has been struggling (he's 0-3 in his last five starts), but his last outing was nearer his standards. It'd be a huge boost to have JT return to top-line status for the rotation. The Giants haven't treated him kindly. He's 0-1/12.00 in two career starts against them, being spanked once in 2016 and again last year. Suarez is a 2015 second-rounder from Miami, and the 25-year-old been impressive holding down the fort while Johnny Cueto and Mad Bum are on the mend. He won his last game for his first MLB victory while this match will be his intro to the Pirates. Per John Sickels of MiLB.com, he's a "lefty strike-thrower with fastball around 90, sometimes higher (it tops out at 95), a slider/cutter, a curve and a change-up, not overpowering but knows how to pitch, (and is) fiercely competitive." He projects him as a three or four slot guy in a rotation.

Notes:

• Old Buccos w/San Fran - Cutch (.250), Gorkys Hernandez (.281), Alen Hansen (.268), Tony Watson (1-1/0.57) & Hunter Strickland (2-1-10/2.70). Mark Melancon is on the DL, joining Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Joe Panik and Hunter Pence as the headliners.
• J-Bell has reached base safely in eight straight games while Starling has a five-game hit string.
• The yo-yo Buccos have won three straight games and four of the last five after dropping four in a row; they've gone 9-5 in their last 14 games. The Bucs have won five straight games at home and six of their last seven played on their home turf and sport a 10-5 home record.
• Adam McCalvy of MLB.com picks Colin Moran as Pittsburgh's unsung hero.
• The Pirates are 29th in the majors with an average attendance of 12,196 (thank God for Miami!).