The Pirates’ offense did a great job against the Reds’ scuffling pitching staff this weekend. They were seemingly non-existent in the season’s first homestand, especially against the Brewers, but against the Reds they drew walks and got big hits and really piled the runs up in taking three of four from the Reds. Tonight, though, they face a different sort of challenge in Florida against Josh Johnson.
Johnson’s been one of the National League’s best starters over the last two years and he’s off to just as good a start in 2011. He throws hard, he strikes out a lot of guys, he doesn’t walk many hitters, he’s pretty much everything you’d expect to give the Pirates fits over the course of a game. That puts a lot of pressure on Paul Maholm to keep the Marlins’ offense in check. They’re currently among the worst in the NL, but early-season sample-size caveats apply to everyone, not just our 8-8 Buccos.
First pitch tonight is 7:05, a win gets the Pirates over .500 for the first time since 5-4.
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