D-Backs Looking to Broom Bucs, Willy v Buchholz & Notes

Today: The game starts at 1:05 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. It's Bucco drawstring backpack day for the 14-and-under fans. Should be a great day outside for a ballgame.

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (6-4, 4.00) finishes off the set against RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1, 2.94). Just when everyone had stuck a fork in Willy, he turned it around and tossed a gem against the Brewers in his last outing. Whether that was an outlier or the start of a rebound is the question. This will be a good indicator; he hit rock bottom by giving up eight runs (just three earned) in a three-inning start in Arizona earlier this month, though he would have won a fortune had he sued his teammates for non-support in that contest. The good news is that he's been solid at home. In his last 18 starts at PNC Park, covering the last year, Williams has posted a 3.02 ERA while allowing two runs or fewer in 14 of the 18 assignments. Buchholz has made six starts for the D-backs and all but one was solid. The clinker was against the Pirates on June 12th when he allowed six runs (five earned) and lasted just four innings. So both guys are looking for a shot of redemption today.

Willy has the honors today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Austin Meadows RF, Starling Marte CF, Colin Moran 3B, Corey Dickerson LF, Elias Diaz C, Josh Bell 1B, Sean Rodriguez SS & Williams P. Jordy sits while S-Rod goes to short; guess it's a rest day. We are kinda surprised about Gregory; when he couldn't hit a beach ball, he was playing every day, but now that he's snapping out of it, he's glued to the pine. That four-man outfield thing could use a little tuneup, we think.

Notes:

• Cervy may be more than dinged up. His concussion effects - he's had at least four of them - are now cumulative rather than event-related, per Adam Berry of MLB.com. He's in a no-activity rehab phase at least through this weekend.
• Yesterday's three-inning outing was the longest of Ric Rod's MLB career.
• Following today's game, the Bucs go coast-to-coast. They'll kick off a 10-day, nine-game road trip beginning tomorrow night at Citi Field in New York, then off to San Diego and Dodgerland. They'll be gone til' July 6th.
• Sad news: Former player and long-time trainer Tony Bartirome passed away yesterday. 
• The rumor mill has the Buccos dangling all their vets on the market, so we'll see where that leads. Sure can't make for a comfortable locker room...  
• In his debut with the short-season West Virginia Bears, top draft pick Travis Swaggerty went 3-for-4 with a double and scored three times.
• RHP Edwin Jackson will make a start for Oakland in their upcoming Tiger series. The A's will be the 13th team he'll pitch for, tying Octavio Dotel's record. Jackson never hurled for the Pirates; Dotel did.