Bucs Back Home, Open 9-Game Homestand Tomorrow Before the Road Gets Bumpy; Off Day Notes

For the next 12 games, the Bucs play the Giants (aka Cutch-fest), White Sox, Padres and Reds, four clubs that they should - and probably must - take series from to remain in the hunt, because from that span until the All-Star break, the road gets quite a bit bumpier.

The early schedule has been kind to Pittsburgh (unlike the first month's weather), but the time to jump in the big boy's sandbox is just around the corner. They have 20 games on the June/mid-July books against the other NL Central contenders, the Cards (7), Cubs (6) and Brewers (7). Stir in seven matches with the D-Backs and the lead-in to AS break with six games against the Phils and Nats, closed out by Milwaukee, and the challenge is laid out. The soft spots are the 15 remaining outings v the Mets, a .500 club, the Dodgers, who may be due to break out though hit by injuries, and the Reds/Padres, who are just sad puppies.

Looking down the road (image clipart panda)

The edge that the Corsairs have is that of the 48 games scheduled after the marshmallows, 29 are at home, and the Bucs have been thriving on home cooking. So far Pittsburgh has been a fun club to follow thanks to a surprisingly productive attack and not too many injuries. But the starting pitching has to become more consistent; it will be the key to surviving the oncoming early summer stretch that may well determine if the Pirates are contenders or pretenders.

Notes:

• RHP Nick Kingham is being optioned to the Altoona Curve from Indy. Nick had meh outing last night for the Tribe, giving up three runs in six innings on seven hit with three walks and fanning three; all three runs were surrendered in a shaky second inning. But the move has to do with a scheduling quirk; Indy has an inconvenient off day that would push back Nick's turn by a day. At Altoona, he can pitch and stay on course for the 19th, the next time the Pirates will need a fifth starter. Altoona sent RHP JT Brubaker to Indy as The King's replacement starter.
• Yesterday was the third time that the Pirates have won a game in which they trailed by at least four runs.
• Beginning Friday night, the Pirates are scheduled to play 15 of their final 19 games of the month at PNC Park.
• 39-year-old Chris Young has joined MLB as VP of on-field operations under Joe Torre. You may remember him as a Bucco third-round pick who was traded away way back in 2002 for Matt Herges (who the Bucs cut in camp) and went on to some decent years as a starter, mainly for SD, in an career short-circuited by injuries.