Sunday, July 22, 2018

Bucs Close Out Against Reds, Nova v Harvey, Lineup & Notes

Today: The getaway game starts at 1:10. It will be beamed back by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan as the Bucs look to break out the broom.

Pitchers: RHP Ivan Nova (5-6, 4.38) finishes the set against RHP Matt Harvey (5-3, 3.64). Ivan's losing steam again; in his last three outings, he's given up 24 hits in 15-1/3 innings after three sharp outings following his return from the DL. He's split with Cincy this year, getting beat up fairly well at GABP but working a strong game at home. That fits Ivan's MO this year - he has a 2.92 ERA in Steeltown, but it balloons to 5.74 on the road, and GABP is a bad venue for guys that give up long flies; he's 1-5 at Cincy. Harvey is on a roll, giving up just six runs in his last five starts while going 4-0/1.86. In his first game against the Pirates this year, he gave up a run in six innings on three hits. In his next outing v the Bucs, he was chased after five, giving up a three-spot.

Ivan looks to complete the sweep (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Corey Dickerson LF, Starling Marte CF, Gregory Polanco RF, Elias Diaz C, Colin Moran 3B, J-Bell 1B, S-Rod 2B, Max Moroff SS & Nova P. Little surprised that Clint is riding Eli so hard; he caught the curfew-buster on Friday and a night game last night. No Josh Harrison yet and Jordy is off today.

Notes:
  • The Pirates have won eight in a row for the first time since 2015. They haven't swept the Reds in Cincinnati since 2013, so a couple of streaks will bang heads today.
  • Pretty good back end: Edgar Santana, Kyle Crick and Felipe Vázquez have posted a combined 27-1/3 scoreless innings of work this month. Santana has tossed 9-2/3 scoreless innings over 10 appearances, Crick has twirled 8-2/3 scoreless frames in eight outings and Vázquez has yet to allow a run in nine innings over 10 appearances this month.
  • J-Bell is hitting .360 w/.458 OBP in July.
  • The Bucs have homered in each of their last six games, hitting a total of 14 bombs in that span. Pittsburgh went deep in a season-high seven straight games this year in late April.

No comments: