The Pirates will try to somewhat salvage their western road trip this afternoon with one final game against the Arizona Diamondbacks before heading home for their first real homestand of the year. A win today would bring the Pirates’ record on the trip to 3-6. That is admittedly not all that great, but it’d be a strong finish after starting the trip 0-5.
A lot of the burden today falls on James McDonald after the bullpen’s long night last night. He struggled with the strike zone quite a bit in his second start and he’s notorious for short outings, so he’s probably not the best pitcher to be relying on for an extending outing at any point in the season. I’m sure that’s part of the reason Brad Lincoln’s already been called up. Daniel Hudson goes for the Diamondbacks this afternoon, coming off of two lackluster starts to open the 2012 campaign. He’s already allowed four homers and walked five in 10 1/3 innings this year, which gives me hope that maybe last night’s little offensive outburst will continue into today. We’ll see.
First pitch this afternoon is at 3:40.
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