Bucs v Braves Round #3

James McDonald squares off against a familiar face today, Atlanta lefty Paul Maholm. J-Mac is searching for answers while Maholm seems to have found the key.

McDonald's velocity is quite noticeably down. That has led some to speculate that he has an injury waiting to be diagnosed, although he chalks it up to a lack of early-season arm strength. If he's really just building and getting ready to step up, the Braves are good candidates to do it against. Lifetime, J-Mac is 3-0 versus them with a 1.73 ERA in four starts, piling up 28 K in 26 innings. 

After seven years as a Pirate mainstay, Maholm has found his groove; he's 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA against his old team in three starts. Since he's been gone, Maholm posted a 13-11/3.76 line last year with the Cubs and Bravos and hasn't been scored on in his first three outings this season. Better D? More mature? Change of scenery? Who knows - but since he's left the Steel City, he's had it going on from the bump, and when better to have that happen than during the walk year of your contract?

The first pitch is scheduled to be tossed at 7:05 and the game will be broadcast by Root Sports and The Fan 93.7.

Pirate lineup: Starling Marte LF, Jose Tabata RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Russell Martin 3B, Neil Walker 2B, Mike McKenry C, Clint Barmes SS and James McDonald P.

Travis Snider, the Bucs hottest hitter, is out of the lineup. Pedro sits down after homering in the past two games and Russell Martin takes over at third, a position he hasn't played since 2008 at LA. Gaby and The Fort are in against a lefty; The Kid drops to sixth.

It does make sabermetric sense; Maholm has a big overall lefty/righty spread (.221/.289). And who'd thunk it? Clint Barmes is 15-for-34 against PM with two home runs, three doubles and nine RBI.

Brave lineup: B.J. Upton CF, Jason Heyward RF, Justin Upton LF, Evan Gattis C, Chris Johnson 1B, Dan Uggla 2B, Juan Francisco 3B, Andrelton Simmons SS and Paul Maholm P.

Francisco is the only new face; he goes to third for Gattis, who in turn gets behind the dish to replace Gerald Laird.

• Pitching 101: Tom Bragg at Pirates Prospects charted Wandy last night, and noted that he faced 21 batters. He started 15 of them off with strikes.
• Travis Snider's start can be chalked up to patience. So far, he's gone after 21% of pitches outside the strike zone, down nearly 10% from his career average. As a result of laying off the chase pitches, he's gotten more walks, fewer whiffs, and his contact rate is around 80%. It's a simple formula: the more balls in play, the more hits.
• Garrett Jones has 45 PNC Park bombs, tied for third with Brian Giles. He's chasing down Jason Bay (61) and Craig Wilson (47) on the all-time hometown blast list.
• Pedro is 1-for-24 with 13 strikeouts against lefties since September 23rd. We'd propose that he doesn't sit more against southpaws, ala Garrett Jones, because of the lack of Pirate depth at third rather than his threat as a thunder stick. El Toro is pretty much the only egg in Pittsburgh's hot corner basket; Hurdle is using Martin there today. And that means Clint would rather have Mike McKenry swing against a lefty than Pedro - and The Fort has a .218 lifetime BA against LHP in limited at-bats.
• Today marks Paul Maholm's 100th career start at PNC Park.
• The Braves have been red hot without the services of 1B Freddie Freeman and C Brian McCann, both on the DL. Freeman is expected back early next week.
• Atlanta is 13-0 when hitting a home run. They haven't scored in the three games when they haven't gone long; apparently GM Frank Wren has built the club per Earl Weaver's three-run homer blueprint. And the way they're playing now, who needs small ball?
• The Curve play a DH tonight. Both Francisco Liriano and Jose Contreras are scheduled to make rehab appearances, with Liriano starting the six o'clock opener.

Pirates History 4/20

All-stars, pitchers moving on, gems from the bump, clutch blasts

• 1930 - Long-time baseball writer Irwin Howe of the Chicago Tribune picked his all-time MLB team, and it included Honus Wagner and Pie Traynor. Howe was the secretary for the Chicago chapter of BBWAA and the AL’s official statistician.
• 1932 - North Side native Steve Swetonic came as close as any Pirate pitcher (Bob Moose matched his feat in 1968) to toss a no-hitter at Forbes Field. He surrendered a two-out knock in the eighth by the Card’s George Watkins to spoil his bid. Though he gave up a couple of anti-climatic ninth inning singles, he cruised to a 7-0 victory. His career was short-circuited after five years when he retired at the age of 28 because of a chronic sore arm.
• 1936 - Overcoming an early six run deficit, the Bucs’ Gus Suhr slugged a two-out, three-run homer in the ninth off Roy Henshaw to give Pittsburgh a 9-8 win over the Cubs at Forbes Field.
• 1946 - Rip Sewell spun a four hitter to win a duel against the Cards Bucky Walters 2-1. Walters scored his clubs only run by stealing home, but RBI from Bob Elliott and Elbie Fletcher sent the Forbes Field crowd of 27,891 home happy.
• 1948 - Rip Sewell did it all; he tossed a complete game six hitter and homered as the Bucs won their home opener 3-2 over the Cubs. Rookie second baseman Monty Basgall had the game winner, his first big league homer, in the sixth inning.
• 1970 - Willie Stargell belted a homer off Jim Bouton that cleared the RF roof at Forbes Field as the Pirates took a 3-1 decision over Houston.
• 1985 - Kent Tekulve’s Pirate career ended after a dozen seasons when he was traded to the Phils for Al Holland. He became a set up man there and remained remarkably rubber-armed, appearing in 291 games in four years.
• 1995 - The Pirates released knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. He was picked up by Boston, where he spent 17 seasons and won 186 games.
• 2009 - Ross Ohlendorf tossed the Bucs’ fourth shutout of the season, giving up two hits in seven innings in an 8-0 win over Florida, ending the Fish seven-game winning streak. The Bucs had recorded just two shutouts in all of 2008. Nate McLouth gave Ohlie all the support he needed by driving in four runs, three touching home after a sixth inning homer.

Wandy's Back: Bucs Win 6-0

Well, Tim Hudson will get his 200th win pretty soon - but it wasn't tonight. After Wandy put away the Bravos easily in the first, Hudson danced between the raindrops to put up a zero. With an out, Travis Snider doubled, but stayed at second as both Cutch and Garrett Jones lined out.

Wandy got three fly outs in the second, and the Bucs kept squaring up, banging four extra base knocks against the Atlanta veteran. Walker went the opposite way for a leadoff triple on a ball that eluded Justin Upton and Pedro followed by launching a ball that landed on the River Walk to make it 2-0. Russell Martin then banged another double. Hudson got the 8-9 hitters, but Jose Tabata came through with yet another double, this one off the Clemente Wall, and it was 3-0.

The third, fourth and top of the fifth went by quietly. Then the Bucs erupted again in the bottom half.

JT and Cutch walked around a Snider single to load the bases. Jones singled home a pair on a looper to left. That was it for Hudson; last night's winner, Anthony Varvaro, took the ball. He got Neil Walker on a medium fly and struck out Pedro looking. Martin walked to jam the sacks, and John McDonald struck out on a hook in the dirt. But the pitch, the fourth that Varvaro bounced to the plate, took a huge hop over Gerald Laird's head, and Old McDonald beat the throw to first to make 6-0 Pirates.

And that was pretty much the game. The Braves trotted out three more relievers who held the Bucs hitless, and Wandy left after seven innings. He gave up a hit and struck out five using 82 pitches. Mark Melancon and Vin Mazzaro finished off the game, with the Braves adding an infield single.

Tomorrow is another challenge. Ex-Bucco lefty Paul Maholm, who hasn't given up a run in three starts, faces James McDonald, who is looking for a decent outing.

• Travis Snider had a pair of knocks to run his hitting streak to seven games, while Russell Martin and Neil Walker also chipped in with two-hit nights.
• Pirate pitchers didn't issue a walk and there were no errors. Both Bravo hits were erased on DPs, so the Buc staff faced the minimum 27 hitters tonight. Elias Sports Bureau reports that's the first time Pittsburgh hurlers have done that since John Candelaria on July 25th, 1982 - against Atlanta
• The Braves have been shutout three times, and those games have been there only three losses they've suffered this season.  
• Tonight's game was the first time this year that Atlanta pitching has allowed back-to-back games surrendering four runs or more.
• Considering the weather, the fans showed up in respectable numbers tonight, with 18,705 on hand.
• Indy beat Louisville 4-1 behind six one-hit, shutout innings from Andy Oliver. The lefty walked three and whiffed 10. 
• The Pirates will play "Sweet Caroline" in the middle of the first inning in honor of the people of Boston, and give the proceeds of a Saturday raffle to the One Fund Boston charity. And the crowd tonight added a nice roar when they heard the Boston idiot was in cuffs.

Wandy Back: Bucs v Braves

Wandy Rodriguez is back on the hill after tweaking his leg in a short outing on April 8th. The lefty is 3-3/3.41 in a dozen starts against Atlanta. Good thing he's back, too. Since his absence, the Pirate staff has pretty much been AJ Burnett followed by opponent BP. Wandy will face Tim Hudson, who is going for his 200th career win tonight. If he gets it, he'll become the 110th pitcher to reach that milestone. The game is scheduled for a 7:05 start if the rain gods allow and will be aired on Root Sports (the hockey game was moved to tomorrow) and The Fan 93.7.

Pirate lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Travis Snider RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Russell Martin C, John McDonald SS and Wandy Rodriguez P.

Interesting lineup, with Starling Marte getting a blow after a 5-K game last night, and we can't disagree too much with Clint Hurdle's move. With all the RHP the Bucs have been seeing lately, it's as good an opp as any to get JT some at-bats today and again tomorrow against Paul Maholm. 

Brave lineup: BJ Upton CF, Jason Heyward RF, Justin Upton LF, Evan Gattis 1B, Chris Johnson 3B, Dan Uggla 2B, Andrelton Simmons SS, Gerald Laird C and Tim Hudson P.

Worked well enough last night; can't blame Freddi Gonzalez for sticking with it.

• Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs examines the framework of Russell Martin. He likes it.
• The Braves have hit hit 29 homers in its first 15 games, the first NL team to come out of the box that hot since Cincinnati in 2006.
• Jameson Taillon comes in at #2 on Baseball America's first Hot Sheet of the season.

4/19 In Bucco History

Boots, bottles flying, firing blanks, birthdays and a trade...

• 1902 - The Cardinals booted 11 balls in a 10-4 loss to the Bucs at Sportsman Park‚ setting a NL record. The Pirates mishandled four more plays to help set a single game NL record. The Pittsburgh Gazette called it a “game that would make amateurs bush.”
• 1948 - At Cincinnati‚ the Reds opened with a 4-1 win over the Pirates in a game delayed by a shower of bottles in the eighth frame. The Bucs went down fighting when Cincy’s Hank Sauer hit a HR with Babe Young on second, who collided with Buc SS Stan Rojek on his way home. The two started swinging and the RF bleacher fans chimed in with their bottle barrage.
• 1949 - Rip Sewell whips Dutch Leonard 1-0 in front of Governor Adlai Stevenson and Mayor Martin Kennelly at Wrigley Field. It was the third time Sewell blanked the Cubbies on Opening Day.
• 1959 - Robert James “RJ” Reynolds was born in Sacramento. The switch-hitter spent six seasons with the Pirates, hitting .269 as a platoon outfielder and pinch hitter from 1985-90. He often played with Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke, but age and Bobby Bo’s emergence was the beginning of the end for RJ, who finished his career playing in Japan and Mexico.
• 1977 - Joe Beimel was born in St. Mary’s PA. The lefty from Duquesne University lasted 11 seasons in the show, starting and ending his career in Pittsburgh. He was 11-20 in his four campaigns with the Bucs, pitching to a 5.03 ERA. He had TJ surgery in 2012.
• 1979 - The Mets traded Tim Foli and minor league prospect Greg Field to the Pirates in exchange for SS Frank Taveras. Foli solidified the infield for the eventual World Champs, batting .291 and appearing in 133 games.
• 1983 - LHP Zach Duke was born in Clifton, Texas. He spent the first six years of his career in Pittsburgh and put up a line of 49-75/4.99. Called up in July of 2005 after being named the Bucco Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2004, he went 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA, but never posted an ERA south of four after that as a Pirate.

Walks, Homers Sink Bucs 6-4

The wind was blowing out, kinda like a Wrigley Field evening, and the game sure had the feeling of one of those nights.

It started off when BJ Upton took Jeff Locke's third pitch, a heater, and drilled it over the wall in left. The Bucs answered when Travis Snider drew a one out, four pitch walk off Julio Teheran, went to third on a Cutch pop double to right and plated on a Garrett Jones sac fly.

Locke survived the second, and the Pirates took the lead when Russell Martin dumped a 3-1 fastball over the fence in left, his first homer as a Bucco. The lead didn't last long.

In the third with two away, Locke, who had trouble finding the strike zone all night, walked Justin Upton on four pitches. Chris Johnson hammered a BP fastball to straightaway center and out of the yard to put the Bravos up 3-2. The Pirates tried to answer, but Neil Walker rolled into a 6-4-3 with two guys on to end the third.

The Buc lefty got through the fourth after a two-out boot by Pedro and a dribbled infield knock by Teheran turned up the heat, but he whiffed BJ Upton swinging at a changeup in the dirt. Pittsburgh tied it when Pedro blasted a ball halfway up the batter's eye in center, a drive estimated to carry 448'.

The good times didn't carry over; Justin Upton banged a 3-1 changeup knee-high and down the middle off the rotunda in left to put Atlanta back up 4-3 in the fifth. Locke walked a couple of more Braves, and that was it for him. He went 4-2/3 frames, giving up four runs on six hits with four walks and three K after tossing 95 pitches, with just 51 good for strikes. Justin Wilson got the last out.

The Bucs battled back as doubles by Snider and Jones knotted the game at four. With two away, pedro was intentionally walked and Martin juiced the sacks with an infield knock up the left side. Clint Barmes got a high heater and banged it fairly well into center, but it was just a loud, inning-ending out.

A walk and bunt in the sixth put Wilson in a bit of a jam. It took him an innings worth of pitches to get Reed Johnson to fly out. The at-bat lasted for 13 pitches, nine of which were fouled off, before retiring him. A wild pitch advanced the Bravo runner, Andrelton Simmons to third, and BJ Upton was intentionally walked to set up a lefty match with Jason Heyward. Wilson won that battle, striking him out swinging at 96 MPH heat.

Wilson took a seat as Alex Presley grabbed a stick to swing for him against RH reliever Anthony Varvaro. Didn't help; The King went down swinging at some hooks. Varvaro got Marte on three pitches; it was the fourth K for the outfielder on the night. At least Snider put it in play, bouncing out to first.

That brought on Jared Hughes. he got the first two outs handily before losing Dan Uggla on a full count slider. He escaped by striking out Juan Francisco swinging on a 3-2 offering; none of the six pitches was in the strike zone. Varvaro tossed another clean frame.

Hughes kept playing with fire; he lost Simmons on a 3-2 pitch to open the eighth and Gerald Laird bunted him to second. Evan Gattis hit for Varvaro. Hughes fell behind him 2-0 and gave him a sinker that didn't below the belt on the inside corner. Gattis didn't crush it, but got enough of the ball to hook it into the left field seats for his fifth homer. BJ Upton followed with a double. That finally drove Clint Hurdle to the pen again and Tony Watson took the bump. He got a well placed liner from BJ Upton to Barmes, who turned it into an unassisted DP. But the Bucs had a 6-4 hole with six outs to go against the league's best bullpen.

Eric O'Flaherty took the bump for Atlanta. With two outs, Barmes got a sinker up and bombed it to center, but the park held it for another loud out and O'Flaherty ended up with a 1-2-3 frame. Vin Mazzaro worked the ninth. With an out, Johnson singled through the right side; Uggla rolled one through the left side.He K'ed Francisco, but a passed ball off Russell's mask (crossed signals, we assume) put the runners at second and third with Simmons up. Mazzaro got him on a bouncer to first, and the Bucs were down to their last swings.

Craig Kimbrel came in to close it out for Atlanta, and he did in fine style, striking out the side. The Bravo bullpen was the difference, retiring the last 12 Buccos in order.

The Buc staff walked eight and gave up four homers; and two of those dingers had a walk ahead of them. That was the game. The Pirates need the starters to step up; the bullpen has eaten way too many innings. Five guys have been dependable - Wandy and AJ for the starters, with Jason Grilli, Mark Melancon and Justin Wilson picking up the bullpen. They all have ERA under three; the rest of the staff are around four or over.

It's tough going through a season with five pitchers. Francisco Liriano, Charlie Morton and Jose Contreras are due back in the second week of May and as of right now, it sure looks like there will be a spot for them, with maybe one left over for Gerrit Cole in June.

Wandy Rodriguez takes the hill against Tim Hudson tomorrow night.

• Travis Snider now has a six game hitting streak. Starling Marte and Neil Walker had their strings ended tonight. Marte struck out five times.
• Nice night, bad crowd: 11,288 showed up for the game.
• Charlie Morton made his first rehab start. His line was three innings, two runs on three hits with two strikeouts. He tossed 44 pitches, and was sitting at 93-95 with his fastball.
• Stolmy Pimentel had what for him was a rough outing tonight because of control woes. He gave up a run in five innings on three hits with four walks and three K. It was the first score the Altoona righty has given up in three starts.

Bucs v Braves

The Pirates will have LHP Jeff Locke on the mound tonight, and he'll face Atlanta’s RHP Julio Teheran. Neither has been a ball of fire so far this season, so it should be an interesting matchup. Despite Teheran's 7.36 ERA, the Braves have the MLB's best team mark of 1.77. On the other side, the Pirates are hitting .305 in their last seven games. The contest starts at 7:05 and will be aired by Root Sports and The Fan 93.7.

Pirate lineup: Starling Marte LF, Travis Snider RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Russell Martin C, Clint Barmes SS and Jeff Locke P.

You should have this lineup memorized by now. The Bucs are seeing lots of righties (Paul Maholm will be the only southpaw the Braves toss at the club), and this order has done a pretty good job against them.

Braves lineup: B.J. Upton CF, Jason Heyward RF, Justin Upton LF, Chris Johnson 1B, Dan Uggla 2B,  Ben Francisco 3B, Andrelton Simmons SS, Gerald Laird C and Julio Teheran P.

It's a good lineup. The Braves have already put 68 runs up in 12 games. The Pirates have scored 51 times in 14 contests. 

• Starling Marte is 8-of-13 in the first inning with a walk and a .615 BA. He's scored five times in the opening frame.
• Derick Hingle of USA Today writes about the evolution of Travis Snider into a contact hitter.
• Michael Barr of Fangraphs doesn't like what he's seeing in Pedro and predicts a platoon role in his future.
• The Pirates bullpen ERA is 2.10, second in the majors to Atlanta, which sports a 1.47 mark.
• The Pirates have won six of eight; the Braves had a 10 game winning streak broken yesterday, losing 1-0 to KC.
• BTW, Neal Huntington isn't the waiver wire junkie he once was; this year he's way down on the list. Alex Anthopoulos of the Jays blows away the competition, while Brian Cashman of the Yankees is suddenly diving into bargain bins this season.
• Charlie Morton will throw three innings tonight in Bradenton. Francisco Liriano and Jose Contreras will move up a level and toss Saturday for Altoona.
• Lefty Kris Johnson takes the hill for Indy against Louisville today while Stolmy Pimentel makes his third start for Altoona. The righty hasn't been scored on in his first two outings. OF/1B Andrew Lambo continued his hot start with the Curve with three hits and three RBI yesterday.

4/18 In Buc History

First homers, shutouts, a birthday, and Maz bats ninth...

• 1909 - Howie Camnitz spun an eight hit shutout as the Bucs whipped the Cubs 1-0 in twelve innings, besting Three Finger Brown at the West Side Grounds. The run scored on an error by Joe Tinker, but the Pirates wouldn’t need much help that season as they won 110 games and the World Series from the Ty Cobb-led Detroit Tigers.
• 1942 - Happy Birthday, Steve Blass. The Bucco announcer was an All-Star and World Series clinching pitcher for the Pirates from 1964-74. The righty won 103 games for Pittsburgh during his career to go with two Series victories against Earl Weaver’s Orioles in 1971.
• 1946 - Rookie Ralph Kiner smacked his first big league homer off Howie Pollet in the eighth inning of a 4-2 loss to St. Louis at Sportsman Park. He would end his career with 369 long balls, 301 belted as a Bucco.
• 1947 - The Pirates took the home opener from the Reds 12-11. The Bucs had added Hank Greenberg to their roster and shortened LF at Forbes Field for him. It kinda worked. Pittsburgh blasted five homers - Wally Westlake had a pair - and three landed in the new Greenberg Gardens. Greenberg himself (and for that matter, Ralph Kiner) didn’t go long, but the other Bucs apparently took a liking to the short porch.
• 1950 - Pittsburgh played the first MLB season opener under the lights at St. Louis' Sportsman Park. The Cards won, 4-2, as Bob Chesnes gave up homers to Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst in the loss to Gerry Staley.
• 1952 - In their home opener at Forbes Field before 29‚874‚ Bob Friend shut out the Reds‚ 5-0‚ on five hits. It is the second win in a row for the Pirates‚ and the “Rickey-Dinks” wouldn't have a win streak longer than that all season‚ a 20th century MLB record low.
• 1955 - In his first major league appearance, 25-year old reliever Al Grunwald got just one batter out. He gave up a single to Don Mueller‚ a double to Monte Irvin‚ a triple to Willie Mays‚ and a homer to Whitey Lockman. The NY Giants “cycle” led to an eight-run fourth frame and eventual 12-3 victory over the Pirates. But there was a bright spot. Rookie Roberto Clemente hit his first home run, an inside-the-park 445’ shot that the weirdly configured Polo Grounds kept in the yard.
• 1957 - The Bucs lost a ho-hummer to the Brooklyn Dodgers 6-1 at Ebbetts Field. The game marked the last time a Pirate pitcher batted eighth (Luis Arroyo, with Bill Mazeroski behind him) for over 50 years, until June 30th, 2008 when Paul Maholm batted ahead of Jack Wilson. Bobby Bragan made a habit of batting pitchers early in the fifties; who knows what John Russell had up his sleeve?
• 1972 - Pie Traynor’s number 20 was retired at TRS posthumously on Opening Day.
• 1987 - Mike Schmidt hit his 500th career home run‚ a three-run shot off Don Robinson in the top of the 9th inning, to give the Phillies an 8-6 win at TRS. Schmidt became the 15th MLB player to reach the 500-HR mark. And though the Pittsburgh-Philly rivalry was pretty bitter during that era, the fans give him an ovation.
• 2004 - P Kris Benson tied a MLB record with 4 sacrifice bunts as the Bucs topped the Mets 8-1. He became the seventh player to accomplish the feat‚ and only the second since 1920.

AJ Almost Perfect; Bucs Roll 5-0

The Bucs came out on fire, but could only put up one run on Shelby Miller. Starling Marte started the Bucs going with a triple the opposite way off the Clemente Wall and came in on a soft single over second by Travis Snider. Cutch banged into a 4-3 DP, and that was followed by a Garrett Jones knock and double to left by Neil Walker, hit with too much starch to plate Jones. Pedro popped out, and that was it for awhile.

Quite awhile, actually. Neither team put a runner aboard again until there was an out in the sixth. After retiring the first 16 Redbirds, a Burnett hook caught Daniel Descalso in the tootsie. AJ left him sitting on first.

The 22 year old Miller had knocked off 15 straight Bucs before a clap of two-out lightning struck in the Pirate half. Cutch broke a bat to bounce a ball up the middle; Descalso tried a spin-a-rama and tossed the horsehide wide and into the seats for a single and error. Jones walked on a 3-2 hook, and Miller ran the count full to The Kid. Walker skipped a ball up the middle, just under the diving Descalso's mitt, and it was 2-0.

Burnett's streak came to an end with two down in the seventh. A hook to Carlos Beltran flattened out a bit, and Beltran sent it on a hop off the Xfinity sign in right center for a double. AJ got Yadier Molina on a fly to Cutch, and that was the night for him after 101 pitches. He went seven, giving up a hit and striking out eight; his slurve was special tonight.

Trevor Rosenthal came on for the Cards, and the Bucs added another run in a sloppy display. Russell Martin started off with an infield hit; Descalso made a running grab of the weak bouncer but missed the mark at first. Clint Barmes bunted him up, and Alex Presley lined a single to left as a pinch hitter.

Martin was held up, and The King steamed into second, beating the throw handily but oversliding the sack and getting picked off. Marte rolled one to third; David Freese hurried the throw with the Dominican flying up the line and one-hopped it to first. Matt Adams couldn't make the grab, and the Bucs had a 3-0 lead for the pen. Mark Melancon tossed a 1-2-3 eighth, helped by a spiffy play and throw from the hole by Barmes

Cutch opened with a knock for openers, and Mike Metheny waved in lefty Randy Choate. Clint Hurdle called on Gaby Sanchez to hit for Jones, and Gaby doubled to straight center over Jon Jay's head to plate McCutchen. A bouncer moved Sanchez to third and Pedro, who did squat against the righty Miller, dropped a flare into left against Choate to chase home Gaby. That brought on Fernando Salas, who put out the flames.

In the ninth, Tony Watson came in with a non-save situation. He got the first two outs easily, but Clint Hurdle waved in Jason Grilli, just to get some work, we guess. Too much managing for us, but a four pitch K should keep Grilled Cheese fresh with the Braves coming to town.

Jeff Locke takes the bump tomorrow night against Atlanta's Julio Teheran.

• AJ Burnett passed the 2,000 K mark tonight. He now has 2,006 whiffs in his career. AJ reached the mark in the second inning when he got Carlos Beltran to look at a called third strike, blowing a fastball past him.
• Neil Walker has a six game hitting streak going on; Starling Marte extended his skein to ten games.
• Pedro drove in his first run since Opening Day tonight.
• The Bucs continued their April woes at the gate on a night the Pens were home, drawing just 9,570 fans.
• Indy's Jerry Sand's was suspended for a game after he went into the stands yesterday at Toledo. The incident started when Toledo fans heaped abuse (and beer and peanuts) on Brandon Inge, who spent several seasons with the Mud Hens. Felix Pie had to be held back from entering the fray.

Bucs and Cards Try Again

Veteran AJ Burnett takes on peach-fuzzed Shelby Miller tonight, and he may need all of his bag of tricks to outgun the rookie. AJ has punched out out 27 in 17 frames but has yet to work into the seventh, maybe because of all those K. He's thrown between 98-108 pitches in his three starts, so maybe a little bit more efficiency and a couple more grounders will get him deeper into today's match.

Miller shut down Milwaukee in his last start, holding the Brew Crew to one single over seven innings while striking out eight in a 2-0 victory. The game starts at 7:05 and will be aired by MLB Network and The Fan 93.7.
 
Pirate lineup: Starling Marte LF, Travis Snider RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Russell Martin C, Clint Barmes SS and AJ Burnett P.

Cardinal lineup: Jon Jay CF, Matt Carpenter 2B, Matt Holliday LF, Carlos Beltran RF, Yadier Molina C, Matt Adams 1B, David Freese 3B, Daniel Descalso SS and Shelby Miller P.

• AJ Burnett is 2 whiffs away from 2,000 strikeouts in his career, and he currently ranks fourth among active pitchers in career Ks. His 27 K in the first three starts of the season are the most by any Pirate pitcher to begin a campaign since Jose DeLeon struck out 28 in '85.
• Wandy is good to go Friday against the Braves, so it looks like Jonathan Sanchez's start, washed out last night, will be skipped.. 
• RHP Chris Leroux cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent.
• Jameson Taillon was on the hill for Altoona today. He went seven scoreless frames, giving up two hits with three walks (two in the first inning) and six K while throwing 100 pitches.The Curve hung on to win 4-3.
• Starting today is the Cards' 1B Matt Adams, who grew up in Philipsburg and played his college ball at Slippery Rock U. He's hitting .611 with three home runs in 20 PA.
• The Cubs DFA'ed a pair of old Buccos, LHP Hisanori Takahashi and UT Brent Lillibridge.