Dario v Jack Flaherty, Lineup & Notes

Game: The middle match starts at 8:15 and will be carried by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. The Pirates are trying to snap an untimely four-game losing streak.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Bryan Reynolds RF, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Colin Moran 3B, Corey Dickerson LF, Kevin Newman SS, Elias Diaz C, Dario Agrazal P. Holy moly, the A-Team!

Pitchers: RHP Dario Agrazal (2-0/2.81) butts heads with RHP Jack Flaherty (4-6/4.64). Can't ask for much more in the three outings Dario has tossed. He's gone six innings in his past two starts and given up just three runs. But he's walked five and K'ed just four with three dingers surrendered in those two games with a hefty 90% strand rate/6.09 FIP, so one has to assume that regression will rear its ugly head sooner or later (later would be fine by us as he's cast as a stopper today). This is his intro to the Cards. Flaherty hasn't won a game since May 14th and had a recent five-game streak of not-so-hot pitching, but snapped out of it and tossed a seven-inning two-hitter against the G-Men in his last outing, losing 1-0. This will be his first 2019 game against Pittsburgh, but he was tough on the Bucs last year, going 3-1/2.48 in five starts.

Dario goes again - photo Associated Press

 Notes:

• RJ Anderson of CBS Sports proposes a deal for every club. For the Pirates, he recommends that the Pirates trade Corey Dickerson and Jordan Lyles to Athletics for a prospect package. Also, the Buccos should trade Melky Cabrera to whichever contender wants a bat off the bench. 
• The Cards recalled IF Edmundo Sosa from Memphis while placing Matt Carpenter on the 10-day IL. He bruised his foot with a foul ball last night.
• Kevin Newman has a MLB vid, telling "His Story." The site has vids of other Pirates, too, so hang around if you like hearing their tales.
• Tyler Glasnow may be done for the season; he's been shut down for at least two more weeks and is running out of time to stretch it out and rejoin the Rays, per Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors.
• The Cubs have acquired nine-year vet C Martín Maldonado (.224 BA/6 HR) from the Royals for LH reliever Mike Montgomery (1-2/5.67). Maldonado isn't much with a bat but is one of the better defensive guys behind the dish. That's one way to improve the pitching... Actually, he's taking the place of Wilson Contreras, who went on the IL with a foot injury. KC plans to return Montgomery to the starting rotation.
• The Jon Niese saga may have concluded. After two years of battling injuries, he signed a deal to work for Seattle's AAA Tacoma this season, but tossed to a 5.76 ERA in the hitter-friendly PCL and was just released.