Buccos-Brewers, Kingham v Guerra & Notes

Today: The game begins at 7:05 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. It's free-tee Friday for the first 20,000 fans and also Dollar Dog night.

Pitchers: RHP Nick Kingham (3-4, 4.26) takes on RHP Junior Guerra (6-5, 2.79) in a rematch from early May. The King broke a string of meh starts with a strong outing against the Phillies. He's been up and down, not much of a surprise considering he's started all of eight MLB games and been a regular commuter between Indy and Pittsburgh. He beat the Brewers on May 4th, when he gave up four runs on six hits (two left the park) in 5-1/3 innings while punching out seven facing off against Junior. Guerra has been a pleasant boost to the Milwaukee rotation, with a 2.63 ERA in his last 11 starts and giving one or zero runs in 10 of his 17 starts. He surrendered a season-high five tallies against the Pirates in the Kingham matchup, also giving up a pair of long flies in 6-4 loss. Guerra's only soft spot is length; he hasn't tossed more than six innings this campaign.

Ridin' with The King tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Corey Dickerson LF, Starling Marte CF, Gregory Polanco RF, Fran Cervelli C, Colin Moran 3B, J-Bell 1B, J-Hay 2B, Jordy SS & Kingham P. AM looks like an Indy candidate at the break.

Notes:

• Starling is riding an eight-game hitting streak.
• In six games against the Brewers this season, the Pittsburgh pitching staff has struck out 67 batters in 53 innings while posting a 4-2/2.21 slash.
• A small debate broke out on whether or not Tyler Glasnow should have worked a second inning yesterday instead of eventually calling on Felipe Vazquez. Clint put it to bed, saying under most circumstances he would have, but was limiting pitch counts because of the doubleheader on Saturday.
• The Pirates and Brewers will honor Negro League baseball by wearing the uniforms of the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Milwaukee Bears. They also are hosting an exhibit of Crawford/Grays memorabilia that will be displayed under the left field bleachers and open to all fans tonight and during the Saturday games.
• Ivan Nova and Clay Holmes will work tomorrow's twin bill.
• Charlie Morton was added to the AL All-Star team. Congrats, Ground Chuck!