Saturday, July 28, 2018

Pittsburgh-NY Round Three, Willy v deGrom, Lineup & Notes: Bell on DL,Osuna Up

Sorry we're late; the Bucs had some last minute injury decisions to make today.

Today: The game starts at 7:05 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. There will be an Italian block party before the game and Zambelli fireworks afterward, bella vita! It's also Pirates Charities Night with the stuffed-full-of-Bucco-goodies backpacks up for bid; you can participate at the yard or through AT&T SportsNet which will highlight the funder.

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (8-7, 4.11) tackles RHP Jacob deGrom (5-5, 1.71). Willy's put a couple of nice outings together back-to-back; he better remain on his A-Game tonight against the league's ERA leader. Williams does enter the contest with an 11-inning scoreless streak. He hasn't faced the Mets since last year, when he beat them while tossing seven innings of one-run, seven-hit ball. Don't let deGrom's record fool ya - he's gone 14 starts giving up two or fewer runs, while spinning a goose egg six times and would easily win a non-support case against his teammates. He's gone seven or eight frames 10 times in his last 12 outings, so he's not particularly a guy to wait out, either. This will be his first outing against the Bucs this year; last season, he beat the Pirates by holding them to a run on six hits with 10 whiffs in 8-1/3 frames.

Willy has a tall order against deGrom tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte CF, Gregory Polanco RF, Colin Moran 3B, Jose Osuna 1B, Jordan Luplow LF, Fran Cervelli C, Jordy SS & Williams P. Still a pretty depleted squad, but at least Starlings back in action. Sorta surprised than Freeser's hot bat was benched; thought he'd be penciled in at first tonight. deGrom does have a L/R split  - righties hit .177 against him, lefties .221 FWIW.

Notes:
  • J-Bell was placed on the DL with an oblique strain; Jose Osuna was recalled to replace him. Corey D went through warmups and took BP; his availability is TBD.
  • David Freese is the first Pirate with five or more RBIs, five times on base (via walk, hit, or HBP), and a walk off RBI in the same game since 1920 (the first year RBIs became an official stat), per @EliasSports.
  • The Tigers claimed LHP Josh Smoker and optioned him to AAA Toledo.
  • The Brew Crew has made another move: They got 3B Mike Moustakas from KC for OF Brett Phillips and RHP Jorge Lopez, both who have been on the big team. They're planning to move Travis Shaw to 2B, ala Neil Walker, to get both bats in the lineup. 
  • Meanwhile, the Cubs picked up LHP Cole Hamels and cash from the Texas Rangers for two minor league pitchers and a PTBNL. Hamels numbers aren't very hot this year, but he has a sizeable home/away split, so Chicago is betting that getting him away from the hitter-friendly Globe Life Park in Arlington will rejuvenate him, and Hamel does have a dazzling ERA at Wrigley in a handful of career outings.

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