Bucs Go For 3-In-A-Row, Nova v Castillo & Notes

Today: It's a 4:05 start with the game carried by AT&T Sportsnet and 93.7 The Fan. It's Pirates Hawaiian Shirt giveaway night for the first 20,000 fans, plus Vern Law will be outside the stadium signing autographs before the game. It will be 85 at first pitch and partly cloudy.

Pitchers: RHP Ivan Nova (3-5, 4.68) spins against RHP Luis Castillo (4-7, 5.79) in a rematch. Nova looked sharp in his return from the DL, and it'd be a boost to have the good Ivan manning the hill. We'll see if he keeps on. He's not much for home cooking - he's 0-3 in four starts at PNC Park this season and hasn’t won a game in Pittsburgh since July 18th of last year, although his ERA is 3.25 over that span. His record against the Redlegs is pretty dismal. Nova lost a 5-4 decision to Castillo at GABP in his only outing against Cincy this year, and went 0-4/7.25 in four 2017 starts. Castillo put together a nice streak for three weeks in May, but he's given up 14 runs (13 earned) in his last three outings lasting 16-2/3 IP. He's burned a lot of pitches and been banged for four homers in those appearances, although with 19 K, he can still get swings and misses. He's split his two starts against Pittsburgh this year, giving up six runs on 10 hits with five walks and eight whiffs in 11 frames (4.91 ERA).

Ivan on the hill (image AT&T SportsNet)

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Austin Meadows RF, Starling Marte CF, Colin Moran 3B, Chris Dickerson LF, Josh Bell 1B, Elias Diaz C, Jordy SS & Nova P. Gregory loses the musical chairs today and Amore gets a sit down with back-to-back day games on tap.

Notes:

• Colin Moran has reached base in 14 consecutive starts, hitting .319 with seven walks during that time.
• Jordy is hitting .314 in his last 30 games, dating back to May 6th.
• Clint said he talked to the bullpen guys about getting into action more consistently and maybe switching some roles, so we'll see where that leads. 
• Ric Rod threw a sim game today.
• Per Elias Sports, the five combined runs by the Pirates and Reds last night were tied for the most in any game in the last 30 years in which there were no RBI hits. The runs scored via sac flies (3), a no-out, bases-loaded DP ball, and an error. 
• Red Bird Rants think that J-Hay is a guy the Cards should consider if the Bucs begin selling off players. Reviewing the Brew suggests Amore or Josh might be tempting targets for the Brew Crew.