Bucs-Cubs Close Out Series, Nova v Hendricks & Notes - Fraze, Kingham to Indy

Today: Another 2:20 start time with AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan airing the action. The weather in the Windy  City is, like here, on the damp side so we'll see where that leads...

Pitchers: RHP Ivan Nova (2-5, 4.96) finishes the set against RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-5, 3.59). This was slated to be Joe Musgrove's start, but Nova got the call after being taken off the the DL. He went on it May 25th with a finger sprain after a lackluster stretch of starts (he hasn't won a game since April 15th); we'll see if the injury was the cause. We'd expect him to be on at least an eyeball pitch count after going over two weeks without a game. He's faced the Cubbies once this year and gave up three runs in seven innings to claim a win. In 2017, he was 2-1/4.86 against them, being hurt by surrendering five homers in 16 plus frames. This will be Hendricks third start of the campaign v Pittsburgh. He lost the first two but has been quite workmanlike, giving up four runs in 11 innings of work.

He's back... (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: J-Hay 2B, Austin Meadows CF, Corey Dickerson LF, Colin Moran 3B, Elias Diaz C, J-Bell 1B, Gregory Polanco RF, Jordy SS & Nova P. Slumping Starling gets a seat & Cervy is out, so Corey D and Red Beard get bumped up in the order.

Notes:

• J-Hay is back today. Cervy is day-to-day, with Jacob Stallings in the house; he was recalled and Adam Frazier was optioned back to Indy in a surprise move. Frazier was coming around in the past couple of weeks, but we're guessing the Bucs want him to cut down that 57% ground ball rate, which is way over his career norm of 48%. The Pirates will have to deal with a short bench again, assuming Amore is down. Also, as expected, Nick Kingham was optioned back to Indy to clear a roster space for Nova.
• The good, bad and the ugly: The Pirates are hitting .297 in their 31 wins, averaging 6.5 runs per game, while posting a 2.75 ERA. In the team’s 33 setbacks, the club has posted a .207 average with 2.6 runs per game and a 5.79 ERA. The Bucs have put up three runs and 17 hits with a .142 BA/.194 OBP in their last four games played on the road. The pitching staff has posted a 3.38 ERA, but...
• Per CBS Sports: The Cubs have the NL's best record since May 18th. The Pirates have the worst. The Cubs are 15-6 (plus-44 run differential); the Pirates are 5-16 (minus-31 run differential). May 18th, btw, was the last time the Pirates started the day in first place. 

One step away... (photo Dan Kubis/Pirates)

• Jung Ho Kang is joining Indy tomorrow; he's on a fast track so far.
• Per Stats by Stats, Charlie Morton became the first pitcher with four> hit batters, four> walks and four> strikeouts in a game since April 18th, 1913, when the Senators' "Long Tom" Hughes had four HBP, five BB and nine K in a complete game win against the Yankees. And it only took Ground Chuck 3-2/3 frames (he was pulled with two outs in the fourth) while working against the Rangers yesterday. We're guessing that Houston will forgive him; he's slashed 7-1/2.82 so far this year.