Reds Come to Town - Lyles v Mahle, Lineup & Notes; Dickerson Goes On IL

Game: The game starts at 7:05 and will be broadcast by the MLB Network and 93.7 The Fan. It's supposed to be around 50 out with light rain showers due toward the end of the game.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte CF, Fran Cervelli C, Josh Bell 1B, Jung Ho Kang 3B, Melky Cabrera RF, JB Shuck LF, Kevin Newman SS, Jordan Lyles P. Kevin Newman gets the start tonight; JB gets to patrol left.

Pitchers: RHP Jordan Lyles goes against RHP Tyler Mahle. Both are making their first outing of the season; the great "Lyles as starter" experiment begins tonight. Jordan saw the Reds three times last year and gave up a hit, two walks and fanned five in four frames from the pen. Tyler is 0-3/5.91 in four 2017-18 starts against the Buccos, surrendering four homers in 21+ IP.

Jordan Lyles toes the rubber (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Notes:

• When it rains, it pours. John Perrotto of DK Sports reported earlier today that Corey D's sore shoulder is actually a sprain and he could miss up to month. The Pirates later confirmed that he has a right posterior shoulder strain, and the outfielder was placed on the 10-day IL to clear space for Jordan Lyles, who was just activated off the list for this start. That leaves the bench short; we suspect Clint wants to be covered if Lyles has a short outing before making another balancing move (Jason Martin is expected to take Corey's spot). Missing Gregory, Lonnie and now Corey puts a big dent in the Bucco attack; Starling and J-Bell in particular need to speed it up some.
• To pick up the slack, Kevin Newman & Colin Moran have been getting some outfield work.
• Clint said he didn't use Felipe yesterday because he'd only call on him if a save situation arose, despite a day off after Vazquez threw 56 pitches in two games (one was just a make-work outing that was well-intentioned but ending up a butt-biter). The pen is OK to go today except for Keone Kela.
• Pirates PR continues to suffer from self-inflicted wounds. Last night, during dollar doggie night, the park had plenty of hot dogs grilled but ran out of buns.
• The Yankees have claimed RHP Jake Barrett off waivers from the Pirates, per the birdie.
• It's baseball season everywhere - the minors begin play today; Indy, Altoona and Bradenton all open.