Saturday: Bucs & Mets, Cole Train v Zach Wheeler, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: The Mets & Pirates get it on at 7:15 in PNC Park. Fox ”Saturday Night Baseball” will cover the TV side regionally and 93.7 The Fan will handle the radio call. The Bucs will hand out free ball & bat t-shirts to the first 20,000 fans.

Lineup: Adam Frazier LF, Josh Harrison 2B, Josh Bell 1B, Gregory Polanco RF, David Freese 3B, Cutch CF, Fran Cervelli C, Jordy Mercer SS & Gerrit Cole P. This is about as solid a crew as Clint can muster; hopefully Wheeler won’t be as tough as deGrom was last night.

Pitchers: Gerrit Cole (2-5, 3.36) tackles Zack Wheeler (3-2, 3.74). Gerrit had his roughest outing of the year against Atlanta in his last start, a combination of an off day on the mound and some shaky fielding, so tonight is a bounce-back opportunity for the Bucco’s top gun. He’s 1-2/4.15 in three career starts against the Mets and didn’t face them last season. Wheeler is on a roll. His ERA is up because of a rough April, but from the end of that month into May he’s only surrender six runs (five earned) in his last four starts. His Achilles Heel is control; he’s walked four or more in three of those outings, so he’s another five-or-six inning guy who requires some plate discipline. He’s never tossed against the Bucs, so it’s a first look for both clubs. Tommy Milone (1-2, 7.91). It’s been a while since the Bucs have seen a lefty after a pretty steady diet of southpaws earlier in the month.

Notes:

• J-Hay has hit safely in eight straight games (14-for-35, .400) and in nine of his last 10 contests (16-for-43, .372). He went 2-for-4 last night and now has 10 hits in his last 19 at bats.
• Cutch has 1,221 career appearances in the outfield and will bypass Dave Parker for eighth place on the club’s all-time list for most games played in the outfield tonight. Willie Stargell is next on the ladder at seventh with 1,293 outings in the pasture (he was a LF’er in his younger, more svelte days).
• Yesterday was Neil Walker’s fifth career multi-homer game and it was his first at PNC Park.
• Antonio Bastardo and Josh Lindblom will begin their rehab assignments today at Indy.