Steven Brault v Anthony DeSclafani, Lineup & Notes

Game: The getaway day game starts at 12:35 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. It's a rainy day in Cincy, so we'll see how that goes. The forecast is for 40-50% chance of passing t-storms in the afternoon after precip all morning. Beats a tornado watch, though; prayers for Celina and Dayton, both of which were banged yesterday.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Bryan Reynolds LF, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Melky Cabrera RF, Eli Diaz C, Colin Moran 3B, Kevin Newman SS, Steven Brault P. The top two batters in the today's lineup were hopping around on sore tootsies last night, so that's good news for a banged-up club that they're back in action. Eli goes behind the dish day-after-night again.

Steven on the slab - Photo Joe Guzy/Pirates

Pitchers: LHP Steven Brault (1-1/7.11) closes the set against RHP Anthony DeSclafani (2-2/4.99).  Steven will start today sans an opener to set the table, after holding the Dodgers to two runs in 5-1/3 IP. He hasn't met Cincy yet this year, but saw them plenty in 2018, when he went 3-0/0.55 in seven outings (one start) covering 16-1/3 frames. So that's a trend that would be nice to continue. DeSclafani hasn't made it to the fifth in his past three starts and given up seven dingers in the 11-2/3 IP he's lasted. He went against Pittsburgh in April and was chased in the fifth, charged with six runs, and is 2-5/4.53 in 10 career starts against the Bucs. So he'll be heading to the hill in search of his mojo.

Notes:

• After today's game, the Pirates come home to take on the Brewers for four games, get a day off, and close the homestand with three contests against the Bravos. The Atlanta series will begin another 13-game stretch without a break, with the final 10 bouts on the road.
• The Pirates have lost 7-of-9 and are 26-27; they're 13-13 during May. Even with the back-to-back losses here, they're 6-3 v the Redlegs over the season and 16-12 on the road.