Pirates - Cubbies Close It Out, Musgrove v Hendricks & Notes

Today: The finale is at 7:05 with AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan carrying the action. Might get a little damp tonight, but the storms should hold off until post-game.

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Austin Meadows CF, Fran Cervelli C, J-Bell 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Colin Moran 3B, Gregory Polanco RF, Jordy SS & Joe Musgrove P. Starling sits tonight, Cervy is backand Gregory remains at the bottom of the order.

J-Grove is back on the bump for his second outing (photo Pgh Pirates)

Pitchers: RHP Joe Musgrove (1-0, 0.00) takes on RHP Kyle Hendricks (3-3, 3.40). Tough to beat the start Joe had against the Cards; we'll see how his second outing goes. We do know he likes to attack the zone, so he's a guy who relies on mixing pitches and locations, which he did pretty well in his debut. J-Grove has faced the Cubbies once, as a rookie in 2016, going six innings and giving up two runs on three hits in a 2-0 loss. Hendricks had a couple of tough outings in the middle of the month, but tossed a beaut in his last go, a seven-inning, one-run, two-hitter against the Giants. He twirled against the Bucs in April and took the loss though he pitched decently, giving up two runs in six frames. The righty has been solid against the Pirates during his career with a line of 4-3/3.21 in 11 starts.

Notes:

• Josh Bell Is the only Bucco to appear in all 54 games this year (49 starts).
• Following the game tonight, the Pirates head to St. Louis where they'll begin a four-game series.
• The Pirates are 28-26 and fading fast; they're 6-1/2 games behind the Brew Crew after losing four straight games and nine of their last 11.
• On the recovery front: Ivan Nova is tossing the ball, Jung Ho Kang is playing back-to-back games now in Florida and will shortly advance to three in-a-row, Enny Romero is playing catch and AJ Schugel still is shut down.

Ivan is getting back into the flow (photo Pgh Pirates)

• Altoona LHP Brandon Waddell, 23, was promoted to Indy. His line was 2-1/2.68 with a 1.081 WHIP in eight starts for the Curve. He was a fifth round pick of the 2015 draft from the U of Virginia and has worked through a couple of injuries on a steady march through the minors.
• The draft is June 4th-6th and the Pirates have the 10th overall selection, along with #36 and #51. Their first pick, per the pundits, should be when the board is still pitcher-heavy, especially w/prep arms. The system has bulked up after the Cutch/Cole trades, but still could use an infusion of position players too, so it'll be a toss-up as to what direction they choose.