Pittsburgh Pirates

Five of seven from the Brewers and Astros was an acceptable outcome. More would've been nice, but this is baseball. No one wins every day. The schedule is about to get a little bit tougher, though, so getting at least two wins from the Cubs here would be a pretty big thing. Matt Garza makes his 2013 debut tonight, so it'd be nice to see the Pirates wear him out early and get into the Cubbie bullpen and wreak some havoc. Wandy Rodriguez seems to have snapped out of his mini-funk and he starts for the Bucs. Starling Marte has the night off, but Andrew McCutchen is back in the lineup. First pitch is at 7:05.

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com David Freese is out of the lineup for a second straight day, presumably still because of that cut he sustained when he was spiked by Norichika Aoki on Sunday. Freese told me yesterday that he felt fine hitting, fielding and throwing — but there was clearly some swelling around his right thumb. He was available off the bench last night but was not used. Also, earlier today the Cubs claimed Minor League right-hander Eduardo Sanchez off waivers from the Cardinals. The organization needed to open a 40-man roster spot for Tyler Lyons (who will make his Major League debut on Wednesday) and in order to outright someone off that roster, the player had to first clear waivers. There is always the risk of losing that player when going through that process. I have already had some readers email to ask why Sanchez instead of just moving to Jaime Garcia to the 60-day DL (which would take him off the 40-man roster)? Keep in mind that Garcia won’t be seeing Dr. James Andrews until Wednesday. There was no assurance that the Cardinals would know in time tomorrow exactly what the plan is for Garcia and whether he’s certain to miss at least 60 days. Jake Westbrook just wrapped up throwing on flat ground for about 15 minutes. He did not throw off the mound as he said he had hoped to. That shouldn’t be considered a setback, however, as the fact that he threw at all today means that his elbow continues to respond well to the throwing program. CARDINALS LINEUP: Matt Carpenter (3B) Carlos Beltran (RF) Matt Holliday (LF) Allen Craig (1B) Yadier Molina (C) Jon Jay (CF) Daniel Descalso (2B) Pete Kozma (SS) Adam Wainwright (RHP) PADRES LINEUP: Everth Cabrera (SS) Will Venable (RF) Chase Headley (3B) Yonder Alonso (1B) Jedd Gyorko (2B) Chris Denorfia (LF) Alexi Amarista (CF) John Baker (C) Edinson Volquez (RHP) Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB

Pitcher Jeff Karstens threw a bullpen session Tuesday afternoon in his continued rehabilitation back to the Major Leagues. Karstens is scheduled to make another rehab start Thursday or Friday. Jeff Karstens has made one rehab start in Bradenton and one in Altoona. In his last start Saturday for Altoona, Karstens gave up two hits and two walks for two unearned runs in the first innings, then settled in to pitch three scoreless frames. He had previously thrown 42 pitches in three innings for Bradenton, and made 62 pitches for the Curve. “In both my rehab starts, I wish I could just start in the second inning,” Karstens said Sunday. “As the game went on, pitches started to get a little crisper, location got better… the last three were really good.” Karstens mentioned Sunday he felt some soreness, but actually called it a “good sign” following throwing the most pitches he had made in a while. He gave a thumbs-up when I asked how Tuesday’s bullpen session went. The question remains, with all five Pirates starters currently maintaining a 3.25 ERA or lower, where will Karstens fit in to the pitching staff? “If you have a quarter, you can probably flip it, and then we’ll figure it out,” Karstens joked. If Karstens pitches Friday, my guess is it would be in Altoona, who will be playing at home. He doesn’t know how many rehab more starts he has to pitch, but a return in early June is still on the table. Charlie Morton is on the mound for the Altoona Curve on Tuesday night after throwing 61 pitches in four innings last week. Welcome Back, Cutch Andrew McCutchen is back in center field and the lineup’s No. 3 spot Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs. Manager Clint Hurdle said McCutchen went into the training room, worked out a little bit and felt good to go. Hurdle noted that it felt similar to a knee injury McCutchen had suffered playing football as a high school sophomore and had to undergo surgery. “That heightened his awareness. He wanted to make sure nothing structurally was out of place,” Hurdle said. But after the MRI came back with no structural damage, “He felt much better.” McCutchen said in the clubhouse that he was feeling fine, and neither he nor Hurdle knows exactly how the soreness came about. His being scratched from the Sunday lineup meant Starling Marte’s off day had to be moved to Tuesday. It has become a common move for Hurdle to bench a regular starter on either side of a day off a scheduled off-day to give the player 48 hours to re-charge, a move he learned from Cardinals Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog pulling it on an aging Ozzie Smith. “They know going in that they’re off,” Hurdle said. “There’s a big advantage to that from a player’s perspective… Going home, laying your head down, hitting the pillow knowing you’re not starting tomorrow… really just un-plug.” Marte is still available to pinch-hit if needed, though Hurdle “prefers” not to use him. Snider Out, Sanchez In It is peculiar that left-handed-hitting Travis Snider finds himself on the bench while right-handed Gaby Sanchez starts at first base Tuesday against right-handed starting pitcher Matt Garza. Hurdle’s response… “I want to continue to push Sanchez and Jones when I can. It’s not that Snider doesn’t have numbers,” Hurdle said. The numbers say Snider (who usually hits righties better than Sanchez) is 1-for-9 in his career against Garza, while Sanchez is 4-for-11. I still maintain that such small sample sizes are a silly way of determining a lineup. To Hurdle’s credit, he is not only looking at the results of batters vs. pitchers, but also how hard they hit the ball or how the hits came about. He has also mentioned in the past that management will use results against comparable pitchers, along with the ol’ gut feeling, to make such

This post is for the Thursday, May 23rd, game in Pittsburgh. This game is posted early as my Thursday schedule looks insane. Today's Pitchers: Edwin Jackson (RHP, 1-6, 5.76 ERA, 1.52 WHIP) vs. Jeanmar Gomez (RHP, 2-0, 2.78 ERA, 1.21 WHIP) The Game Rules: [ A ] Please put your prediction in the title line which should begin in the format: Pirates xx Opponent xx e.g. Pirates 5 Cubs 3 Putting the Pirates score first, then the opponents score makes tallying points much easier. [ B ] Please make the full prediction, instead of a "+1" to someone else whose prediction you agree with [ C ] Don’t worry about minor spelling mistakes, like "Piartes". We can handle those. PERFECT GUESS 5 POINTS NAILING ONE TEAM SCORE 2 POINTS Please submit you guess by the official game start time. Update: The next scores update will be on Friday. Thanks for playing, Good Luck, and Viva Los Piratas! This post is for the Thursday, May 23rd, game in Pittsburgh. This game is posted early as my Thursday schedule looks insane. Today's Pitchers: Edwin Jackson (RHP, 1-6, 5.76 ERA, 1.52 WHIP) vs. Jeanmar Gomez (RHP, 2-0, 2.78 ERA, 1.21 WHIP) The Game Rules: [ A ] Please put your prediction in the title line which should begin in the format: Pirates xx Opponent xx e.g. Pirates 5 Cubs 3 Putting the Pirates score first, then the opponents score makes tallying points much easier. [ B ] Please make the full prediction, instead of a "+1" to someone else whose prediction you agree with [ C ] Don’t worry about minor spelling mistakes, like "Piartes". We can handle those. PERFECT GUESS 5 POINTS NAILING ONE TEAM SCORE 2 POINTS Please submit you guess by the official game start time. Update: The next scores update will be on Friday. Thanks for playing, Good Luck, and Viva Los Piratas!

This post is for the Wednesday, May 22nd, game in Pittsburgh. This game is posted early as Wednesday's game is in the afternoon. Today's Pitchers: Jeff Samardzija (RHP, 2-5, 3.49 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) vs. Francisco Liriano (LHP, 2-0, 1.64 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) The Game Rules: [ A ] Please put your prediction in the title line which should begin in the format: Pirates xx Opponent xx e.g. Pirates 5 Cubs 3 Putting the Pirates score first, then the opponents score makes tallying points much easier. [ B ] Please make the full prediction, instead of a "+1" to someone else whose prediction you agree with [ C ] Don’t worry about minor spelling mistakes, like "Piartes". We can handle those. PERFECT GUESS 5 POINTS NAILING ONE TEAM SCORE 2 POINTS Please submit you guess by the official game start time. Update: The next scores update will be on Friday. Thanks for playing, Good Luck, and Viva Los Piratas! This post is for the Wednesday, May 22nd, game in Pittsburgh. This game is posted early as Wednesday's game is in the afternoon. Today's Pitchers: Jeff Samardzija (RHP, 2-5, 3.49 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) vs. Francisco Liriano (LHP, 2-0, 1.64 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) The Game Rules: [ A ] Please put your prediction in the title line which should begin in the format: Pirates xx Opponent xx e.g. Pirates 5 Cubs 3 Putting the Pirates score first, then the opponents score makes tallying points much easier. [ B ] Please make the full prediction, instead of a "+1" to someone else whose prediction you agree with [ C ] Don’t worry about minor spelling mistakes, like "Piartes". We can handle those. PERFECT GUESS 5 POINTS NAILING ONE TEAM SCORE 2 POINTS Please submit you guess by the official game start time. Update: The next scores update will be on Friday. Thanks for playing, Good Luck, and Viva Los Piratas!

Here's the lineup for tonight's matchup against the Cubs. Jose Tabata LFNeil Walker 2BAndrew McCutchen CFGarrett Jones RFRussell Martin CPedro Alvarez 3BGaby Sanchez 1BClint Barmes SSWandy Rodriguez P Also, Jose Contreras has been reinstated after a few days on the bereavement list, and Jared Hughes is headed back to Triple-A.

At seven it will be Garza and Wandy. The Pirates are 26-4 and definitely in first place.

Vic Black left today’s game with an unknown injury. Vic Black left today’s Indianapolis Indians game with an unknown injury today. Al Skorupa of Bullpen Banter has the details. So Victor Black came in. Looked pretty sharp. 93-97. SL mid 80s. Left after two batters with an injury (unclear what. Maybe groin?) #Pirates — Al Skorupa (@alskor) May 21, 2013 Black came on in relief in the eighth inning and got a quick out. He was then removed for Erik Cordier. Black has dealt with injury problems in the past involving his elbow and shoulder, but has been clear of those problems for the past two seasons.

Jose Contreras has activated from the bereavement list. The Pittsburgh Pirates have activated right-handed pitcher Jose Contreras from the bereavement list. To make room, Jared Hughes has been optioned to Triple-A. The move is the exact opposite of the move from a few days ago, when Contreras was placed on the bereavement list due to a death in the family and Hughes came up to take his place.

Wandy Rodriguez (4-2, 3.25) takes on Matt Garza. Wandy has fairly dependable so far, and his last three starts have been solid outings. The lefty is a monster at PNC Park, with a 3-1/1.35 line so far this year. Overall, he's 8-7/3.56 in 23 starts career starts against the Cubs. Chicago's Garza is making his first start of the year after recovering from shoulder and then lat problems. Dale Sveum has him on a pitch count of 90 tosses.The game starts at 7:05 and will be aired on Root Sports and The Fan 93.7.Pirate lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones RF, Russell Martin C, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Clint Barmes SS and Wandy Rodriguez P.Kind of a shake-and-bake lineup tonight without Starling Marte (he gets two days off now; he was supposed to get his blow Sunday but Cutch sat out with a sore knee) and Travis Snider. At least Cutch's knee is OK. Cub lineup: Julio Borbon CF, Starlin Castro SS, Anthony Rizzo 1B, Alfonso Soriano LF, Scott Hairston RF, Welington Castillo C, Cody Ransom 3B, Darwin Barney 2B and Matt Garza P.Something to watch will be Rizzo v Wandy. Rizzo has a reverse split this year, and is hitting .321/.387/.625 against southpaws.Chicago enters this series having won five of eight and boasts a solid rotation, so this series may not be the breather everyone here expects it to be. True, Pittsburgh has won eight of 10 and is off to its best start since 1991, but the club has dropped seven of the last nine games played at PNC against the Cubbies.Pittsburgh has reinstated Jose Contreras from the bereavement list. Jared Hughes was optioned back to Indy to clear space on the roster. The Pirates have tossed six shutouts, with five of them coming on three hits or less. The Bucs have tossed 17 games giving up two runs or fewer, and are 15-2 in those contests. AJ Burnett took both losses, 1-0 to LA and 2-1 to Seattle.Since the start of last season Pedro Alvarez leads all NL third basemen with 38 homers.The Bucs have been outscored 88-63 in the first four innings; they've outscored opponents 122-67 between the fifth and ninth frames. John Paul Morosi of Fox Sports has a piece on the NL Central and the Bucs' emergence, writing "The most superstitious/scarred/pessimistic Pirates fans may not be prepared to hear this, but The Streak should end this year..."Adrian Gregory Glover of Players View selected the five most decadent (ie, likeliest to lead to clogged arteries) food items offered in MLB ballparks. Lucky us; PNC Park has two of the heart-stoppers. It sure ain't peanuts and crackerjacks any more...Andy Oliver goes for Indy today and Charlie Morton gets a rehab start at Altoona. Stolmy Pimentel had another tough day at the office for the Curve. He went seven, giving up five runs on eight hits and a walk with five K. Three of the runs scored in the first; all came with two down. After yesterday's collision, Altoona 1B Alex Dickerson was placed on the minor league DL, diagnosed with a concussion. Future trade partners? Atlanta has lost Johnny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty to Tommy John surgery. The Bucs have an embarrassment of riches in their Indy bullpen - Ryan Reid (0.33 ERA), Duke Welker (2.25), Mike Zagurski (2.29) and Vic Black (2.66) - if Atlanta decides to go shopping. Former Bucco Ryan Vogelsong suffered a broken hand against the Nats when the Giant hurler was hit by a pitch.Ronnie Paulino has signed a minor league deal with the Orioles.