The Last Hurrah, Clayton v Romano, Lineup & Notes

Today: The last game of 2018 begins at 3:10 and will be carried by AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan.

Pitchers:  RHP Clayton Holmes (1-3, 7.25) closes the campaign versus RHP Sal Romano (8-11, 5.37). Holmes has pitched four scoreless innings over his last two relief outings, but hasn’t started for the Pirates since August 10th. He's faced the Reds once, in April, and gave up a run in two innings of work. Romano hasn't started since August 21st, being relegated to the pen, and hasn't thrown more than 29 pitches in a game since. In three outings (one start) against Pittsburgh, he's given up six runs (four earned) in 6-2/3 IP on nine hits. This may not officially be a bullpen game, but the odds are that it will end up one.

Clay gets last call... (photo Dave Arrigo/Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Pablo Reyes LF, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Elias Diaz C, Colin Moran 3B, Jose Osuma RF, Kevin Kramer 2B, Kevin Newman SS & Holmes P. It's the peach fuzz lineup for the Bucs while the Reds are going with their A-Team for the hometown finale.

Notes:

• Guess who else is missing the playoffs for the third straight season? Yep, the Cards. They were eliminated by the Dodgers, who rallied for a 10-6 win over the Giants yesterday. 
• The Cubs and Brew Crew are tied for first in the Central; ditto for the Dodgers and Rox in the West with a game to play. Both division titles could be decided by tie-breaker games on Monday.
• Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams both went 14-9 this season. The last time the Pirates had two RHPs win 14 or more games in the same season was 1978 with Bert Blyleven (14-10) and Don Robinson (14-6). The last season with two Pittsburgh pitchers who won 14 games or more was 1992, when righty Doug Drabek (15-11) and lefty Randy Tomlin (14-9) did the deed.
• More tossing twosome stuff: Willy (3.11) and Jamo (3.20) rank eighth and 10th respectively among the NL leaders in ERA. It's the first time since 1991 that the Pirates will finish the season with two pitchers among the Top Ten, when Randy Tomlin (2.98) was eighth and Doug Drabek (3.07) was 10th.
• Deja vu all over again: In just 179 days, the Pirates and Reds are scheduled begin the 2019 regular season on Thursday, March 28th at Great American Ball Park.
• Big day in Bucco history: OTD in 1972, Roberto Clemente doubled for his 3,000th and final hit.