It’s May 9th. The Pirates are 17-17. Many people, Pirate fans included (including me; I’m still sticking with my 70-75 win prediction from the pre-season) don’t think they’ll be able to keep this pace up over the course of the season. The only way to change people’s minds is to keep on winning. Tonight, the Dodgers come to PNC for a four-game set. They’re not playing terribly well at the moment and it would be fantastic to see the Pirates get three of four to run their record to 5-2 on this homestand.
Tonight, Pedro Alvarez returns to the lineup. Andrew McCutchen has heated up a bit in his last nine games (.294/.385/.500 since the beginning of the Pirates’ Colorado/San Diego trip); if Pedro can heat up, too, I think this team can hang some crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Hopefully, his few days off help him get his head straight rather than set him back even further.
Jeff Karstens pitches for the Bucs, Chad Billingsley for the Dodgers. The first pitch tonight is at 7:05.
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