Cards Come Calling, Musgrove v Gant & Notes

Today: The series starts at 7:05 with coverage on AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan. It's free-tee Friday for the first 20,000 fans and the beginning of a big homestand against NL Central big boys St. Louis and Chicago.

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Gregory Polanco RF, Fran Cervelli C, Josh Bell 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Colin Moran 3B, Austin Meadows CF, Jordy SS & Joe Musgrove P. Amore is back in action. We wonder if Clint has given any thought to switching AM and El Coffee in the batting order?

Introducing Joe Musgrove (photo via MLB.com)

Pitchers: RHP Joe Musgrove opens the set against RHP John Gant (1-1, 4.67). Been a long time coming for Musgrove to make his Bucco debut, but here it is after some mixed rehab outings (1-2/4.58). Talk about throwing a guy right into the fire! Musgrove has a rep for being aggressive and filling up the strike zone; it'll be interesting to see how he works off the hill. Gant has been a minor league depth long guy/spot starter for the Cards, making his 12th start in three years. But his small-sample peripherals have been good this season, with a 2.64 FIP, 1.096 WHIP and 18 K in 17-1/3 IP, so he's been a little unlucky so far. He's worked three times (5-1/3 IP) in relief against the Bucs, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits.

Notes:

• George Kontos was DFA'ed to clear a roster spot for Joe Musgrove; not really much of a surprise there.
• Starling is taking live BP and running the bases, so he's ramping up his baseball activities. He's due to come off the DL tomorrow, and it's likely he'll be activated then, triggering another roster move.
• Musgrove is the seventh different pitcher to start a game for the Pirates this season; they only used seven starters throughout all of 2017.
• Edgar Santana has made 11 straight scoreless appearances and has been scored on just four times in 21 outings.
• Beginning tonight, the Pirates and Cardinals are scheduled to play each other seven times in the next 10 days. The Bucs swept a three-game series from the RedBirds at PNC Park earlier this season and have won five straight games vs. St. Louis, dating back to 9/23. The five-game winning streak over the Cardinals is the longest for the Pirates since they won six in a row during the 2013 season. But the Pirates aren't exactly rolling into this series; they've lost 5-of-6 to San Diego and Cincinnati.