And here we go

I don’t usually say things like this, but I’m incredibly excited and happy for Paul Maholm tonight. The guy’s been with the Pirates since 2005 and seen some of the darkest baseball possible, but he’s never complained and he’s always taken his turn in the rotation and said good things about Pittsburgh and Pirate fans and wanting to win baseball games for Pittsburgh and the fans. He’s not the best pitcher the Pirates have had in the last six years, but I still can’t think of a guy that deserves a Friday night start in front of a packed PNC with 38,000+ crazed Pirate fans, the Cardinals in town and first place on the line. 

As was true of the Reds’ series, these games against the Cards are the biggest games that PNC has ever hosted, the biggest games some Pirate fans have ever watched, and the biggest games most Pirate players have ever played in. Isn’t it exciting?

Ronny Cedeno and Steve Pearce are back in black and gold tonight, though Pearce is on the bench with the righty Chris Carpenter on the mound. Cedeno is back at short, but Chase d’Arnaud and his .250 OBP are still in the lineup, playing third and batting second. Which means that it’s time to bring Pedro Alvarez back, stat. Still, Cedeno should help Maholm and Pearce should deepen the bench a bit. 

First pitch tonight is at 7:05 (weather permitting). Paul Maholm, Chris Carpenter. Sold out crowd. First place on the line.