At this point, all I’d like to see from the Pirates tonight is six or seven innings from Francisco Liriano and the defense to make the most routine of plays. The Pirates can’t unlose the first two games of this series, but they can at least re-group, avoid a sweep, and give themselves something to build on going forward.
As mentioned, Liriano starts for the Pirates. He hit a home run in his last start, but also had to leave it early with an apparently minor injury. As I’ve mentioned a few times in the last few days, he’s only made two real starts since the All-Star Break, and I’d love to see him on the mound, dominating the Cardinals in the way that he has in the last couple of seasons. That’d be a pretty encouraging thing for a team that needs encouraging news about their rotation. Lance Lynn starts for the Pirates. The Pirates seem to me to be to Lance Lynn what the Reds are to the Gerrit Cole. Since they can’t do much else, it’d be nice to break the long streak of losses at Busch Stadium this week.
First pitch is at 7:15 and not 8:15, which I just learned now at 6:55. Good thing I checked! Starling Marte is out with his hand thing from last night, though it appears to not be hugely serious (they’re calling it a contusion and wouldn’t explicitly rule him out from pinch hitting tonight. Aramis Ramirez is also on the bench.
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