Saturday Night: Tyler Anderson v Johnny Cueto; Kyle Keller Up, Miguel Yajure Goes Back

Today's Game: Game time is 6:35 and the match will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B; Kevin Newman SS, Bryan Reynolds CF; Jake Stallings C; Greg Polanco RF; Will Craig 1B; Ben Gamel LF; Erik Gonzalez 3B; Mitch Keller P.

Fraze has been a one man wrecking crew - image Pirates

Pitchers: LHP Tyler Anderson (3-3/3.05) goes against RHP Johnny Cueto (2-1/3.52). So far, the best signing the Pirates have made in the off season was of Anderson; hopefully he can keep up the strong work. He's given the Bucs length (every start has lasted 5-8 IP) and quality, not surrendering more than two runs in his last five outings. Tyler hasn't faced the Giants since 2018, and in fact was a Giant in 2020 (4-3/4.37). Cueto, 35, was off to a fast start, then missed 3-1/2 weeks with a lat strain. In his return, the Padres chased him after three innings, so the Bucs may be lucky enough to catch him in rust removal mode. They can only hope so -  the Pirates have a legendary playoff win against him, but Johnny is 21-4/2.13 in 31 regular season starts overall.

Notes:

• The Pirates have recalled RHP Kyle Keller from Indy and optioned RHP Miguel Yajure back to the Indians. KK, 28, was claimed from the Angels earlier in the year; he has 12 MLB appearances with no decisions and a 4.15 ERA under his belt. That ends the speculation; Miguel was called up just to give the rotation a break with a spot start. UT Hunter Owen, recently DFA'ed, was outrighted back to Indy after he cleared waivers.
• Fraze leads the NL in hits with 47; he's third in MLB.
• Per Jon Heyman, TJ Rivera, 32, agreed to minor league deal pending his physical with the Pirates. He's a utility IF who last played for the Mets in 2017, had TJ surgery and spent the last two seasons in the Latin/indy leagues.
• Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors says several vet players are in the mix for Team USA, including Todd Frazier, who is also reportedly talking to 3 or 4 teams about a return, although likely at the minor league level.

Tomorrow's Game: The series finale is at 1:05 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan, with Mitch Keller and Alex Wood closing it out.