Sunday, September 16, 2018

Pirates Close Out Series At Milwaukee, Willy v Chacin, Lineup & Notes

Today: The matinee begins a 2:10 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan.

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (12-9, 3.28) closes the set against RHP Jhoulys Chacin (14-7, 3.54). It'll be interesting to see how Willy closes out. His remarkable run was derailed by one terrible inning in his last outing. He's already topped his career high in starts and IP, and finishing the year with 30+ starts and 170 frames would be a strong breakout for him. He struck out seven over seven scoreless innings against the Brewers on June 18th, his last go against the Brew Crew. Chacin has been pretty dependable, giving up two or fewer runs in 18 of his last 24 starts; he does sometimes get into a pickle with pitch count. He's 0-2/2.28 after four 2018 starts against the Pirates and has given up three runs just once in those games.

Willy is looking for lucky win # 13 today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Jordan Luplow RF, Corey Dickerson LF, Colin Moran 3B, Kevin Newman SS, Jacob Stallings C & Williams P.  We've seen weirder Sunday lineups.

Notes:
  • J-Bell has a seven-game hitting streak going on. Kevin Newman has a four-gamer going into today.
  • Ric Rod has tossed 11 straight scoreless appearances since allowing a run in back-to-back outings in mid-August. He tops all NL rookie relief pitchers with 78 strikeouts on the campaign and averages 11.3/K per nine innings.
  • Since their 11-game winning streak, the Pirates have been 20-25.
  • Tomorrow night at PNC Park, the Pirates finish interleague play with a three-game series against the KC Royals. Then it's an off day and three more against the Brewers for the last home stand of the campaign. They finish at Chicago and Cincy, with a maybe date against the Marlins on October 1st.

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