Rubber Match Lineup, Notes

RHP Liam Hendriks (0-3, 7.83) goes against RHP James McDonald (5-3, 2.32). Hendriks is a rookie who opened with the club, was sent back down and recalled Saturday. He's still looking for his first win. J-Mick has been da man for Pittsburgh; his three losses have all Pirate shutouts. Looks like a good matchup for the Pirates tonight as they try to take the rubber match. The game begins at 7:05 and will be shown on Root Sports.

The lineup: Alex Presley LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones RF, Casey McGehee 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Rod Barajas C, Josh Harrison SS, James McDonald P.

JT sits down for Josh Harrison; Clint Barmes ditto, as Josh Harrison gets a start at short.

• J-Mick hasn’t allowed more than three runs or seven hits in any of his starts this year.
• Dan Wade of Fangraph's "Waiver Wire" fantasy feature zeroes in on Jose Tabata and Casey McGehee.
• Pittsburgh opponents have stolen 27 consecutive bases. 
• The Pirates have gone six games and 56 consecutive innings without making an error.
• RHPs Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon have been selected to represent the Pirates in the All-Star Futures Game. The USA roster and bios are here, compliments of Baseball America.
• Mexican RHP prospect Luis Heredia, 17, will make his first start of the year for State College tonight.
• Happy 31st B-Day, Garrett Jones!

Willingham, Span, Sliders Drop Bucs 2-1

It looked like Eric Bedard was gonna cruise through the first. A soft liner deflected off his butt to Walker for a 1-4-3 out, and a little fly to center put the first two Twins away. Ahead of Josh Willingham 0-2, a two seamer aimed for the outside black rode in, and was drilled into right center for a two bagger. Justin Morneau fell behind 0-2 and took the next four pitches for a walk. Trevor Plouffe was down 0-1, and another two seamer slid over the middle of the dish and was banged into center to bring home a run. Brian Dozier walked on a 3-2 pitch to juice the sacks, kept alive when Mike McKenry stopped short by the dugout and allowed a foul pop to drop. But Bedard escaped when he stabbed Jamey Carroll's liner up the middle.

Francisco Liriano had no trouble with the strike zone. He K'ed JT on fastball swinging, then gave up a double to Josh Harrison. He came back to whiff Cutch on a down-and-in slider and Casey McGehee bounced to short. After one, it's 1-0 Twins. Bedard found his mojo in the second, tucking away the Twinkies 1-2-3 with a couple of Ks. Ditto for Liriano, who got a pair of bouncers and a K in his half.

Bedard retired Minnesota in order routinely in the third, and Liriano did the same to the Buccos. Carroll broke Bedard's string of outs at nine with a two-out knock into left, causing no problems. Liriano's string was ended at ten when McGehee ripped a single to right; he likewise was stranded. Still 1-0 after four.

Denard Span got a one out knock in the fifth, but stayed put as Bedard worked hard to keep him glued to first. Bedard has six Ks, but is approaching his pitch limit, as he's up to 85 offerings. Liriano had another easy frame. He's getting his fastball in, and the Bucs can't lay off his slider, which finishes ankle high. Liriano has 5K with a lot of weakly hit grounders and pops to his credit so far tonight.

It took a dozen pitches for Bedard to 1-2-3 the Twins. His line was six innings with a run on four hits with two walks and seven K, tossing 97 pitches. Hague opened the frame with a line single to center, and JT bunted him to second. Harrison tapped back to the mound and Hague was caught between bases, lasting long enough to swap spots with Harrison. Cutch looked at three balls and was intentionally walked on the fourth; that's the downside of a sacrifice that leaves first base open. McGehee took a ball, and let a hung slider spin by him for a strike. The next three sliders were well out of the strike zone, but he hacked at a pair of them to K and end the threat.

Jared Hughes climbed the bump. with an out Drew Butera golfed a shot that dropped into left, well placed enough to end up a double. He went to third on Liriano's bouncer, and was left there on a nice grab of Span's grounder inside first by McGehee.

With an out in the seventh, Pedro was brushed on a two strike heater. Liriano challenged Clint Barmes with fastballs; he rolled over on a two strike heater on the outside part of the plate, but got a single off it when it headed for the hole and glanced off Plouffe's mitt. Mike McKenry walked on five pitches to juice the sacks. Rod Barajas lined a 2-1 slider into left center; Span plain outran it, making a sweet diving grab to steal a bases clearing double, but the sac fly tied the game. Ron Gardenhire tapped his arm for Jared Burton. JT rifled a one hopper past first, but Morneau, playing back, speared it to end the frame.

Jason Grilli took the mound for Pittsburgh. With an out, he delivered a fastball above the knees and down the middle to Willingham, who cranked it over the 393' mark in left center to answer the Bucco tally. Morneau got the same pitch and singled through the hole, but Grilli finished out with a fly to short right and a ground out to short. Cutch lined a single to center with an out, but the rest of the order managed a pair of weakly hit grounders and a K looking, leaving it 2-1 Twins after eight.

Doug Slaten put away Minnesota in order in the ninth, and the Pirates were down to last call. Lefty Glen Perkins came on, and walked Pedro on four pitches. That would be the inning's highlight. Jordy Mercer came on to run. Barmes fell behind 0-2 trying to bunt, and struck out on a ball nearly in the dirt. McKenry hit a short fly to left center, and Garret Jones came up to hit. The lefty has only 10 at-bats against southpaws, but was the last bench player left. He went down swinging at a high fastball.

Span's catch saved the day for the Twins, but the Buc batters shot themselves in the foot tonight. Liriano came in with a win and a 6+ ERA, and Clint Hurdle will no doubt praise his slider in the post-game chat. But the scouting report was he doesn't throw the slider for a strike (he didn't), and the Pirate batters still couldn't lay off, even after going through the order. Plate discipline, plain and simple, cost them tonight.

Liam Hendriks faces James McDonald in tomorrow's rubber match.

• Casey McGehee extended his hitting streak to eight games.
• Erik Bedard overtook Clayton Kershaw tonight for most 3-pitch strikeouts (24) with three more against the Twins. He's also now five fan jobs away from 1,000 career whiffs.
• Gerrit Cole went five innings in his Altoona debut, giving up twp runs on five hits and six K, tossing 74 pitches to get his first AA win.
• Josh Bell, who had meniscus surgery, is resuming "light" baseball activities. The Bucs hope to get the 2011 draft pick involved in some live ball before the season ends.
• 2008 16th round pick Wes Freeman has retired. The young OF'er was given $150 K to sign out of high school, but never developed at the plate, becoming another cautionary tale of prep projections.

Pre Game - Notes & Lineup

It's a southpaw showdown tonight as LHP Francisco Liriano (1-7, 6.24 ERA) goes against LHP Erik Bedard (4-7, 4.36 ERA). The Twin lefty has been pretty strong in his past four outings, while Bedard has split four decisions and been bombed early twice. Both guys feature nasty swing-and-miss stuff, but have control issues. The game begins at 7:05 and will be aired on Root Sports.

The lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Josh Harrison RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Casey McGehee 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Clint Barmes SS, Mike McKenry C, Erik Bedard P.

Alex Presley is out again against another lefty with Harrison in the OF, and McKenry dons the tools tonight.

• Brad Lincoln will pitch Saturday against the Tigers, while Jeff Karstens is slated to go Sunday or Monday at Indy in what should be his last rehab start.
• June regressions: Pirate pitching is fourteenth in the MLB for fewest runs allowed this month, but the team is fifth in most runs scored.
• The Bucs have won 9-of-10 at home, and are 20-11 at PNC Park in 2012, the second best home record in MLB behind the Dodgers (24-12). 
• Pittsburgh has gone 9-1 in games started by opposing LHPs at PNC Park this season, and the big reason is Andrew McCutchen, who has a MLB-leading .468 BA against southpaws.
• How much diff does the DH make? The Pirates have won four straight games and are 10-of-13 against AL teams at PNC Park since the beginning of the 2011 season. They're 5-10 at AL yards in the same span.
• Pedro Alvarez has gone 7-for-11 with two doubles, four home runs and nine RBI in his last three games.
• Casey McGehee has a seven-game hitting streak.
• Neil Walker has made just one error in his last 52 games, and none this month. He leads MLB second basemen with 1100 chances in the field and 149 DPs. Not too shabby for a converted catcher/3B.
• The Pirates have stolen 15 bases in their last 10 games, and 20 during June, the top mark in MLB.
• The MLB said Maz and Billy Virdon have to go as honorary coaches. Their presence violates some bench rule, even tho Twin manager Ron Gardenhire was fine with it. Oh well, slipped it by for a day, anyhow.
• This day in history: In 1925, CF Max Carey became the first switch hitter to hit for the cycle when he led the Pirates to a 21-5 victory over the Brooklyn Robins at Forbes Field.

Full Notepad...

Lotta notes and stuff going on today:

• The Tribe beat the Reds 3-2 in 10 innings last night to get the Bucs within 2-1/2 games of the lead. Aroldis Chapman took the loss. He hasn't been the same since Clint Barmes and Mike McKenry tagged-teamed him during their last series.
• How do the Bucs do it? LaVelle Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote " You look at the Pirates, see they are last in the majors in runs scored and it's easy to wonder how they are over .500. Opponents said the same thing about the 2002 Twins when they began winning division titles.The Pirates are proof, just like that Twins team, that a team can win with good pitching and an opportunistic offense.
• Kevin Correia's last three home wins, spanning over a year, were all against AL teams - Detroit, Baltimore, and Minnesota.
• Mea culpa. In yesterday's game post, we reported that Josh Harrison's homer bounced off Josh Willingham's glove, off the fence and over the wall. In reality, it hit the top of the padding first, then Willingham before hopping the wall, and per league ground rules, should have been a double.
• If you're wondering, Joe Mauer is limited to pinch hitting with a quad problem, and reliever Matt Capps is working through a strain/dead arm.
• BTW, the Bucs had to get permission to get Maz and The Quail on the bench for this series. MLB rules restrict the number of uniformed non-players to six coaches and one manager, but Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire gave his nod to Clint Hurdle to allow Mazeroski and Virdon to pull on a uni and join the dugout gang. Nice move by both clubs.
• The Pirates have had their last scheduled day off on Monday until the All-Star Break. They've got a 20-game streak booked, beginning yesterday. They host the Tigers next, then visit Philly and St. Louis, closing out with series against the Astros and Giants.
• Pitching coach Tom Filer’s Indy Indian's staff has put up an International League-leading 2.98 ERA with nine shutouts. Filer was just named a coach for the U.S. Team in the All-Star Futures Game.
• Gerrit Cole makes his first upper-level start tonight for Altoona.
• There is talk now that the Bucs may eventually switch their short-season team from State College to Morgantown, as WVU has plans to build a new ballyard (the Spikes and PSU share their stadium).
• The Tigers announced that they released Brad Eldred from their Triple-A roster and that he has elected to sign with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan. 
• Jim Tracy is at it again. With a staff that's the MLB's worst, he's decided to go to a four man rotation - but with a 75 pitch limit. Lotta confidence in that bullpen, hey?
• Happy birthday, Rob Mackowiak. Whack-A-Mack turns 36 today.

Bucs Bop Twins 7-2

Nice start on a sizzling night for Kevin Correia; the Twins went down 1-2-3, and the righty even picked up a K.

The Bucs kept their new-found blasting caps firing against Twinkies starter Scott Diamond. Josh Harrison took a 1-1 changeup over the wall in left with one away for his second dinger of the year.  It was knocked over the fence by LF'er Josh Willingham, bouncing off the tip of his mitt and hopping over the padding as he fought the early evening sun.

Cutch followed by taking a 2-0 fastball into left for a single. Casey McGehee smacked a 2-1 heater into left to put runners at first and second with one away. Walker also got ahead 2-0, but his fastball was bounced weakly to short or the second out, with both runners advancing. Diamond tossed Pedro six straight curves, losing him on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Dewey was behind the dish, and saved Diamond's bacon by blocking three hooks bounced in the dirt. Those saves proved big, as Rod Barajas bounced out to end the frame and strand three ducks. Every Bucco hitter was ahead in the count, which was the good news; all but Harrison beat the ball into the dirt, which is the bad.

With two away in the second, Ryan Doumit dropped a jam job single into right for Minnesota's only noise of the inning. In the early going, KC is doing a pretty good job of avoiding the middle of the dish, working the edges. For Pittsburgh, even Clint Barmes showed some discipline, whacking a 3-2 heater into left off SS Brian Dozier's glove to open the frame, and was bunted to second by KC. JT flew out to short center and Harrison K'ed swinging at a curve in the dirt. The Pirates have stranded four in two innings, three in scoring position.

Jamey Carroll opened the third by spoiling a handful of pitches, finally bouncing one up the middle before being sacrificed to second by Diamond. It was Denard Span's turn to foul off a couple of two strike offerings, running the count full before grounding out and moving Carroll to the hot corner. KC had another grounder left in him, though, and escaped still holding on to his 1-0 lead. The heart of the Buc lineup went down in order, with McGehee's fly to the wall in right the only hard-hit ball.

With the heart of the Twins attack up, KC got a pair of outs, one a nice comeback against Justin Morneau, who was up 3-0 and eventually went down swinging. Trevor Plouffe lined a first pitch fastball into center, but Dewey flew out deep to the opposite field on a slider away to end the frame. Pedro rolled over on a 2-0 heater, bouncing out to first. Barajas flew out to right, but Barmes turned the order over when he rolled an 0-2 curve along the left side for an infield knock before Correia's ground out to third. Still 1-0 after four.

Dozier led off with an 11 pitch at-bat, fouling off seven KC pitches before bouncing out to third. It took just seven more offerings to put Minnesota away, putting his pitch count at 84. With one away, Harrison had a pesky at-bat, fouling off five pitches before banging a curve into left and then stealing second. Diamond tried to stay away from Cutch, and walked him on five pitches. Mistake; the duo pulled off a double steal. Swinging at a 2-2 hook, McGehee sent a ball plenty deep enough to center to plate Harrison and move McCutch to third. Walker caught a sinker on the nose, but lined out to left short of the track where Willingham hauled it in. After five, it was 2-0 Pirates.

With an out in the sixth, Ben Revere drew a five pitch walk and stole second. KC hung a two strike slider to Willingham, who lined it into center to put runners on the corners. That was it for Corriea, who went 5-1/3 innings, giving up no runs on four hits and a walk with 2 K on 97 pitches. Tony Watson took the bump. He got Morneau on a short fly to center for the second out, but walked Plouffe on four pitches to jam the sacks.
Watson got ahead of Dewey, batting from the right side, 0-2 and finished him off on a foul tip K on three sinkers.

Pedro led off with a single to right. After a Barajas fly out, Barmes drilled a hanging curve to the right field gap, sending El Toro, who was running on the pitch, home to make it 3-0. Matt Hague grabbed a bat for Watson, and Alex Burnett climbed the hill for the Twins. A wild pitch on a wayward curve moved Barmes to third, and the Hit Collector's roller to short brought him home. After six, it was 4-0 Pittsburgh, with Juan Cruz hurling.

Dozier blooped a 1-2 slider away into center to open the seventh. Carroll hit into a 5-4 force. Chris Parmelee stepped in for Burnett and watched three strikes sail past him. Cruz fell behind Span 2-0, gave him a fastball right down the middle and watched it disappear into the far corner of the Clemente stands to make it 4-2.

Jeff Manship took the ball for the Twinkies. Harrison started off with a leg single to short. On a 3-2 pitch, Manship tried to get a fastball in on Cutch's hands; McCutch turned on it and knocked it into the left field seats just inside the foul pole to make it 6-2. After McGehee whiffed fishing for a curve, Walker drew a four pitch free pass. That was that; lefty Brian Duensing got the call to face Pedro, who took a slider away the opposite way for a double to put Bucs at second and third. Barajas lifted a 2-0 sinker to left to bring home The Kid. It was 7-2 after seven.

It was Chris Resop's turn to serve some pitches in the eighth. With two down and a 2-0 count, Plouffe got a fastball and knocked it into right. Dewey bounced out, and there were three outs to go. Resop got to bat, and walked on five pitches against Duensing. JT took a ball deep to right center, but it was run down on the track for the first out. Harrison took one to the wall in right center with the same result. Cutch finally found some grass, doubling to center on a 3-2 sinker and chasing a not-too-fleet Resop to third. McGehee bounced out on the first pitch; hopefully Chris can catch his breath and finish off the Twins.

With an out, a walk and pop single into no man's land kept the Twins batting. Resop nailed the next pair, and the Bucs sent 19,936 fans home happy.

It's a good start, beating up a team they should beat up. And it was a challenge for the pitchers tonight. Plate ump Rob Drake took away the bottom quarter of the strike zone, and both staffs adjusted by working the black in-and-out rather than up-and-down.

Franciso Loriano takes on Erik Bedard tomorrow night.

• Tongiht was Kevin Correia's first win at PNC Park since June 22nd, 2011 against Baltimore.
• The Pirates have Maz and Bill Virdon serving as coaches during the homestand, and may take them on a roadtrip or two as to help out. For Maz, it's the first time in the dugout since 1984, when he coached under Bill Virdon in Montreal
• Pittsburgh strung together its first five-game home winning streak since September, 2010, the longest of the Clint Hurdle era. 
• Jeff Karstens went 7 innings, giving up a run on 6 hits and a walk with 5K while tossing 78 pitches in his rehab start at Altoona.  He may be ready now.
• Indy rehab action: Daniel McCutchen went an inning with 2K and Chris Leroux pitched 2/3 of an inning with two hits and a walk.
• Jamison Taillon, who has been in a slump of late, showed his stuff for Bradenton tonight, going 7 scoreless innings, giving up a hit with 3 walks and 5K on 78 pitches. 
• The Bucs officially announced the signings of fifth round RHP Adrian Sampson ($250K/$252K slot), ninth round SS D.J. Crumlich ($5K/$129K slot), and 11th round SS Chris Diaz ($100K/$100K slot). Crumlich is a college senior and has no leverage; he was drafted in the top ten to help fatten the cap pool money available to the Pirates. They have $609,400 to play with according to Baseball America, with first round RHP Mark Appel, fourth round OF Brandon Thomas and eighth round 3B Kevin Ross yet to ink a deal.

Twins Come To Town

LHP Scott Diamond (5-2, 2.13) takes on RHP Kevin Correia (2-6, 4.43) at PNC. Diamond, a Canadian product, was called up in early May and has been pretty solid for the Twins, putting together quality starts in six of his last seven outings. Correia is Pittsburgh's favorite whipping boy. Calm down; it's all relative. He's way better than Zach Duke and in fact, the rotations of eight MLB teams (including the Twins) have higher ERAs than KC. The game starts at 7:05 and will be shown on Root Sports.

The Buc bats have been hot the past couple of games; Minnesota shouldn't slow that big mo down. Their starting pitchers have the next-to-worst ERA in baseball at 6.06, and while the bullpen is solid enough with a 3.61 ERA, the Twins' overall ERA is 5.05 with the most longballs per nine innings (1.37) surrendered in the show. They're middle-of-the-pack on the attack, so this sets up to be a good series on paper for Pittsburgh with the usual big ifs: can Pirate starters get into the seventh and the batters show a little discipline? Both go a long way toward claiming a W.

The lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Josh Harrison RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Casey McGehee 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Rod Barajas C, Clint Barmes SS, Kevin Correia P.

Kinda odd; Alex Presley swats a pair of homers and sits down. Clint Barmes still hangin' in there; Jordy Mercer really should be sent back down to get some work if Barmes is bulletproof. Barmes is batting .176 since collecting five hits in two games after he was benched in early June.

• Anthony Castrovince of Sports Illustrated has a glowing piece on Cutch.
• Johnette Howard of ESPN gets into AJ Burnett's head. (Thanks to Tom Smith at Rumbunter.)
• Jim Callis of Baseball America discusses why the potential Scott Boras ploy of a move to Japan or an indy league team might not be so attractive to Mark Appel.
• "Big Country" Brad Eldridge's next at-bat will be in Japan.
• Jeff Zimmerman of Fangraphs called on Robert Boden, the Batted Ball In Play stat guy, to determine what effect defensive shifts have on hitting. There's a lot of geeky inner SABR baseball stuff going down in the article, but the bottom line is that BAs are 11 points under the expected number, and that is a pretty strong indicator that the shifts are having their desired effect.

Mercer & Pitching Questions, Notes, News

Time to catch up with the off-day happenings:

• The Jordy Mercer question has been raised more than once in the media locker room sessions as Clint Barmes continues to struggle. Clint Hurdle has told the scribes that young guys need playing time to develop and added somewhat cryptically that "the deck needs shuffled." Whether that means Mercer will get a couple of starts now that the AL park tour/DH is done or he'll be swapped back to Indy for Yamaico Navarro is the question.
• The next best question: why haven't Indy's Rudy Owens, Jeff Locke, Justin Wilson or Rick VandenHurk been brought up to pitch? Well, no matter what reasons the FO has given, our guess is that they are in the throes of paraylsis by analysis. They don't want to screw with the 25 man roster, especially as moves will have to be made in the in the next couple of weeks when Jeff Karstens and Chris Leroux complete their rehab. They want to try to establish some trade value for Kevin Correia and Eric Bedard, both of whom are in their final contract years. The FO also has demonstrated a kind of love-hate relationship with its minor league players, overrating them for trade purposes and underrating them as potential Pirates. That segues into the Bucs reputedly kicking the available tires in the pitching marketplace, another reason they may be treading water on calling up anyone from AAA. So our take is that Pittsburgh's pitching will sort out in the next month through trade, injury, and performance; we'd expect the post-July rotation to look a lot different than the current one.
• Nathan Stoltz at Beyond the Box Score takes a look at four of 2012's breakout pitchers, including James McDonald.
• Pedro Alvarez and Ralph Kiner are the only Pirates since 1918 to hit at least 2 homers in 2 straight games on 2 different occasions.
• Indy LHP Justin Wilson was named the International League Pitcher of the Week after going 1-0 with 0.69 ERA in 13 IP giving up a run on five hits with 11K. Opponent's are batting a league-low .206 off the 24 year old. He was also the IL Pitcher of the Week in April, and is the first two-time award winner this season.
• State College's big name in the field this year will be sandwich pick OF Barrett Barnes. They should be especially strong on the mound, though, with prospects Luis Heredia and Clay Holmes leading a pack of young, hard throwers. 
• Stetson Allie will begin the year in the rookie league GCL as he transitions to third base from the mound. So will second round draft pick prep C Wyatt Mathisen. Another name to watch is 18 year old Dilson Herrera, a Colombian shortstop who signed in 2010 for $220K. 2011 picks Colten Brewer and Tyler Glasnow, along with this year's third round pick high schooler Jon Sandfort, top the staff.
• For complete recaps of the short-season GCL Pirates and State College Spikes, click on Tim Williams' Pirate Prospect reviews. Both open their seasons today.
• In the first draft pool cap year of the draft, five of the top ten selections have yet to ink a deal, including Mark Appel, so the agent-club posing hasn't been cured quite yet.

Cabrera Boots, Alvarez Bombs Lift Bucs To 9-5 Win

Jeanmar Gomez had a relatively easy first frame. Other than a one-out knock by Neil Walker, the Bucs went down routinely. Not so for Brad Lincoln. With two away, Jason Kipnis hacked away, fouling off a couple of pirches before getting what he wanted,  a fastball he could handle, and he dumped it over the centerfield wall to make it 1-0 after an inning.

The Bucs opened the second with a knock off Casey McGehee's stick. It went for naught as an out later Matt Hague bounced into a 6-4-3 DP. Lincoln had more problems in the second, again with two outs. He gave up three consecutive singles, the RBI coming on a ball that Walker bobbled in short right playing a shift, to make it 2-0.

The third was even less promising at the dish; the Pirates went down in order. Asdrubal Cabrera and Kipnis started the Tribe with back-to-back line knocks. Jose Lopez and Michael Brantley both went after first pitch fastballs; Lopez popped his up and Brantley took Cutch to the fence in center to haul in his shot with Cabrera moving to third after the catch. Then Kipnis stole second. But Jack Hannahan bounced to first, and Bad Brad moved on to the fourth.

McCutch singled to the opposite field with one down in the fourth. Garrett Jones rolled into a force. The Bucs got a break when McGehee's grounder to Cabrera was thrown away, putting runners on second and third instead of ending the inning. Pittsburgh cashed in big time when Pedro lined a 1-0 heater delivered down the middle over the right field fence to give the Bucs a 3-2 lead. Hague followed with a single. Clint Barmes ended the frame with a pop out, but thank you, Asdrubal.

Johnny Damon answered the bell, driving a 1-1 fastball up in the strike zone into right for a double to greet Lincoln. With an out, Lou Marson walked on a full count. Both runners scampered home on Shin-Soo Choo's seemingly catchable double to left that Presley took a tortured route toward and let get away. That was it for Bad Brad, who went 3-1/3 frames, giving up four runs on eight hits, a walk and two K. Seriously, FO, you're ruining a competent back end reliever; get him out of the rotation and back in the pen. Tony Watson stemmed the bleeding, but the Tribe was back on top 4-3.

Not for long, though. With one down, Presley made up for his circular chase of Choo's ball by going yard to right center on a hung 3-2 change up to tie the game. Walker drew a five-pitch free pass. Cutch, probably the last guy Gomez wanted to see, drilled a first pitch slider that stayed over the plate to left for a ground rule double. Jones drew an intentional walk to juice the sacks.

Gomez went after McGehee with his sinker, hoping a ground ball. He got one too, but Cabrera got the rare double error on the catch and then the throw (he tried to bat the bobbled ball to second) on what should have been an inning-ending DP. Two runs scored, and that was it for Gomez, even though so far Cabrera is having the worse game by far. Esmil Rogers came in, and he tried to work Pedro down and in. The first pitch was tight, and the second caught the inside corner - and the head of El Toro's bat, who bombed it over the right field wall curling inside the foul pole to make it 9-4 Buccos. He closed the gate after that, but the cows were gone.

After that burst, neither team had more than one runner aboard in any inning but the seventh, when the Tribe added another run off Jared Hughes, who gave up a pair of singles and a two out double to Brantley to bring home Cleveland's fifth run. That frame was noteworthy in that it had the makings of blowing up, but JT threw out Cabrera at second trying to stretch a single into a double while the Tribe was down five runs. Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan finished out the contest, both get some work and put a bow on the win.

Not much to say about today's game. Cabrera's bad day at the office, Pedro's bat, and another great job by the rock-steady bullpen (one run in 5-2/3 innings) did the job. And though Neil Huntington said on his pre-game radio show that Lincoln would soak up the starts until Karstens is ready, we'd expect to see Rudy Owens or one of the Indy lefties join the rotation and Bad Brad rejoin the pen.

Tony Watson, who worked 1-2/3 frames giving up a hit and a K, got the win, his fourth. The Bucs are off tomorrow, then host the Twins and Tigers for three game sets.

• Alvarez's six RBI is his personal best. It's also the fourth multi-homer game during his career, and they have come in back-to-back games. He almost had three; an opposite field drive in the seventh bounced high off the 18' fence in left for a double. The last Bucco to drive home a six pack was Andy LaRoche, who did it on September 28th, 2009, against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• With the win, Pittsburgh has taken six of their last seven series.
• Bill Brink of the Post Gazette reported on the Buccos' mystery man: "Rule 5 pick Gustavo Nunez had to have pins removed from bone in ankle, set back his rehab. Pins became an irritant." Guess the shortstop's ankle was kinda beat up.
• The Pirates are still four back. The Reds won again today, and are on a six game unbeaten streak. But they are right in the wildcard race, two games behind the Giants and 1/2 game behind the Braves for the second spot.

Notes & Lineup For Rubber Match

Happy Fathers Day to all you pappies!

RHP Brad Lincoln (3-2, 3.15) takes the bump against RHP Jeanmar Gomez (4-56, 4.71) this afternoon. Bad Brad has been rattled around pretty well his past couple of starts. Gomez pitched well against the Reds in his last outing, but was shaky prior to that start. The game starts at 1:05 and will be shown on Root Sports.

The Lineup: Alex Presley LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones RF, Casey McGehee 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Matt Hague DH, Clint Barmes SS, Mike McKenry C.

It's Fort McKenry's turn to catch today, and Garrett Jones will open in right as JT takes a seat. The Hit Collector will get some swings in as DH; all the guys who hit from the left side are already penciled in on the scorecard.

• Alex Presley's homer yesterday was his first home run against a lefty since June 28th, 2011, when he connected off Jo-Jo Reyes, now pitching for Indy. And both bombs were interleague.
• Bob Cohn and Rob Biertempfel have a piece on Hanny in today's Tribune Review, with the lede "Those Joel Hanrahan trade rumors have died down a bit, although the Pirates might yet deal their All-Star closer depending on how the season unfolds. But any offer likely would be one the club absolutely could not refuse."
• Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote of a potential Kevin Youkilis deal: "The Pirates, who have become contenders in the NL Central, and Dodgers could be the teams most willing to pull the trigger. They could benefit from someone with Youkilis’s plate discipline." 
• Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic penned this about D-Back LHP Joe Saunders: "There is said to be interest from Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston and, somewhat surprisingly, Pittsburgh." There has been smoke about the Pirates looking to add starting pitching depth despite the work of Rudy Owens, Jeff Locke and Justin Wilson at Indy
• Clint Hurdle told the media in the pre-game discussion that the Bucs have been probing the market for six weeks, but other teams are just now beginning to evaluate their rosters for trade purposes..
• In his first start of the year, 2011 Pirate Minor League Pitcher of the Year Kyle McPherson went five innings for Altoona, giving up a run on four hits with a walk and 5 K. The righty had been out since camp with shoulder inflammation.

Bucs Rock 'N' Roll In Cleveland, Beat Tribe 9-2

Well, typical Bucco start. Ubaldo Jimenez K'ed Alex Presley, even though he only threw him one strike. Walker went down swinging on three pitches. Cutch had the patience to take a couple of balls and banged a 2-0 heater into left. Garrett Jones must have taken notes as he walked on four pitches. Casey McGehee took it to extremes; he never moved the bat off his shoulders, and was called out, frozen by a 3-2 curve after seeing sliders and heaters.

It must be contagious, as AJ Burnett missed high with three straight fastballs to Shin-Soo Choo, but found the strike zone and got him to bounce out. He looked like he had Asdrubal Cabrera struck out on a 1-2 curve, but didn't get the call. He came back with a heater up, and watched it sail into the right field stands. Jason Kipnis knocked the next offering up the middle for a single. Carlos Santana got ahead 2-0, but flew out. Kipnis stole second with Michael Brantley up, who walked on five pitches. Plate ump Fieldin Culbreth has a fairly tight zone, but both pitchers are just flat out missing in the early going. Johnny Damon, first pitch swinging, popped out on a nice running over-the-shoulder grab by Walker, and it was 1-0 Tribe after an inning.

Then a funny thing happened. Pedro got ahead 2-0 in the count and lined a knee high, down the middle fastball 375' over the right field fence to tie the game. The next three batters went down routinely, and it was 1-1. Shelly Duncan, today's token Tribe righty, drew a 3-2 walk to open the second. Casey Kotchman went down swinging at a Burnett slurve. Lonnie Chisenhall rolled over on a fastball on the outside black and ended the second inning with a 4-6-3 DP.

Presley tapped back to the mound on a 1-1 pitch; none of the three was a strike. Jimenez hung a change up to The Kid, and he roped it into center for a knock and stole second. Cutch beat out a ball hit to the left side to put Buccos on the corners. Jones fell behind 0-2 and then golfed a low change up softly into right to plate Walker, with Cutch hitting the brakes at second. McGehee ended the party. Ahead 3-0, he took a strike and then grounded a fastball to short to start a 6-4-3 DP. Burnett tucked the top of the order away in the third.

Alvarez fell behind 0-2, but wouldn't bite as the next four offerings missed the plate to draw a leadoff walk. JT flew out to center on an 0-2 curve. Rod Barajas also found himself in an 0-2 hole, popping out. Clint Barmes did marginally better, finding himself behind 1-2 before K'ing. It was another perfecta for AJ in the fourth.

The Bucs returned the favor in the fifth. The Tribe evened the score with one away when Kotchman crushed a first pitch heater up and turned it into a souvenir for the fans in right to tie the game. Jones opened the sixth with an opposite field slicer that fell in, almost getting by Duncan. The next pitch was a spinner that hung at McGehee's letters, and he jumped it, hitting a towering 380' fly into the left field seats to make it 4-2.

Cabrera and Kipnes opened the sixth with back-to-back ground ball knocks. Burnett got the next two outs routinely, but lost Damon on four pitches to load the sacks. Duncan went after the first pitch, and popped to short to keep the Bucco lead at two.

Tony Sipp came on in the seventh for Cleveland. He struck out Barmes on five pitches; one was a borderline strike. Presley worked the count full after being down 0-2, and lined a fastball just barely over Choo's mitt and into the right field seats to put the Bucs up 5-2. Walker drew a five pitch free pass, and Manny Acta brought on Joe Smith. He got Cutch on a force and Jones on a soft flare to right.

With an out, Chisenhall doubled to right center. With two down, Cabrera drew a walk on five pitches. That was enough for Clint Hurdle; he summoned Jared Hughes. AJ went 6-2/3, giving up two runs on six hits, fours walks and a pair of K. He tossed 96 pitches, ending a streak of six 100+ pitch outings. Hughes faced Kipnes and threw two pitches to get him to fly out.

McGehee walked to start the eighth; Alvarez forced him at second on a nice backhand play and throw from the hole by Cabrera. JT rolled one into right, but the Bucs couldn't move them along. Tackleberry lost Santana on four straight balls, but the catcher never made it past second in the Tribe half.

Nick Hagadone took the hill for Cleveland, and the Bucs broke it open against him. He walked The Kid, sandwiched around a pair of outs. Hague pinch hit and singled to left, taking second when the throw to third skipped past the hot corner. Then Jones hit a parachute to right that Choo misread and let drop, plating a pair. It would prove an even more critical miscue a batter later when Pedro clobbered the next pitch halfway to Lake Erie. Instead of the inning being over, the Bucs were up 9-2. Then Hagadone completely lost the strike zone, walking the bases full before finally escaping.

Doug Slaten came in to wrap the package, and dropped the Indians in order to ice AJ's seventh win. It was an odd juxtaposition, as Progressive Field at the end was filled with cheering black-and-gold Bucco fans who had made the trip west after the Tribe's backers left the yard in droves during the eighth. It was almost like a Steeler or Pen away game.

Get shutout one night and hit four homers the next. Cie l' vie, say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell. Brad Lincoln goes against Jeanmar Gomez tomorrow afternoon as the Pirates try to clinch the series.

• AJ Burnett became the first Pirate to win six consecutive starts since Doug Drabek in 1990 and six consecutive decisions (over eight starts) since Zach Duke in 2005.
• Pedro Alvarez had his first multi-homer game since July 21st 2010 against the Brewers. If you recall, he had a pair of homers against Milwaukee the day before, too.
• Casey McGehee had 4 RBI, his most productive day in a Pirate uniform.
• The difference a little discipline makes: when ahead in the count, the Pirates hit .301; when behind, the BA drops to .156, and .164 with two strikes.
• Clint Hurdle told the media in the pre-game presser that he expected Jeff Karstens to be ready to rejoin the club around July 1st and and Chris Leroux by late June.
• Johnny Damon's walk was the 1,000th of his career.
• Michael Brantley's hitting streak ended at 22 games.
• Stephanie Liscio, writing in ESPN's Sweet Spot blog, thinks it's time that MLB encouraged a Bucco-Tribe rivalry. She posts that "...one hopes that the Indians and Pirates both have bright futures ahead of them. It would be the ultimate interleague battle for the pair to meet up in October a few years down the road."
• If it weren't for bad luck, Jay Bay's bod would have no luck at all. Bay suffered a possible concussion crashing against the wall last night, and was put on the DL again (7-day concussion). He's had broken ribs already this season, and suffered a confirmed concussion in 2010 to go with his bum knees.
• The Mariners called 30 year old Ollie Perez back to the show. Like Freddy Kruger, it seems like there's always another Ollie sequel.