Big Joe v Kevin Gausman, Lineup & Notes

Game: The game begins at 7:05 and will be carried by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. It'll be cloudy and who the heck knows what it'll do during the game; certainly not the weather people.

Lineup: Kevin Newman SS, Bryan Reynolds LF, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Colin Moran 3B, Gregory Polanco RF, Elias Diaz C, Adam Frazier 2B, Joe Musgrove P. Gregory gets dropped a few spots down; we actually kinda like him in the five-hole, so he's getting closer.

Gregory moves into the middle of the order - 2015 Topps Chrome Commencement

Pitchers: RHP Joe Musgrove (3-6/4.57) gets the middle match v RHP Kevin Gausman (2-4/5.56). Big Joe should be looking forward to June; his May was about as bad as it could get (2-4/8.10). Musgrove hasn't met the Bravos since 2017, when he was 1-0/4.63 in two starts. Gausman alternates between good and bad, but when he faced Pittsburgh last year, it was mostly good - he gave up three runs (just one earned) on nine hits in 14 IP in his two starts.

Notes:

• Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic eyeballed the lineup card and noticed that Rookie Davis was switched from bullpen duty to a starter's spot while Nick Kingham was flipped to a reliever. It looks like Rookie, Jordan Lyles and Steven Brault at Milwaukee this weekend.
• The Pirates have lost 11-of-15. They're 11-18 at home.
• Asked our view on the Steve Blass "grumpy old man" TV comments, our feeling is that if u like bat flips, stares and somersaults around the bases, that's fine. If u prefer dropping the lumber in the box and taking a head-down trot around the bases, that's fine, too. Ditto with the necklaces, bracelets, studs, etc. Different strokes for different folks...and after all, it is just show biz.
• OF Alex Dickerson, 29, was DFA'ed by San Diego. An former Bucco farmhand, he had threatened to break into the Friar lineup, but a back injury in 2017 and TJ surgery in 2018 derailed his efforts.