Sunday: Bucs & Fish Close Out, Nova v Jeff Locke, Lineup, Notes

Today: The contest starts at 1:05 at PNC Park. The game will be Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan. The day’s swag is a kid’s plastic “Play Ball” bat for the 14-and-under crowd.

Lineup: Adam Frazier LF, Josh Harrison 2B, Jose Osuna RF, David Freese 3B, Elias Diaz C, Cutch CF, Josh Bell 1B, Jordy SS & Ivan Nova. Jose and Eli move into the three & five holes and Jordy is eighth against a lefty; today’s a little shook up even for a Sunday lineup.

Pitchers: Ivan Nova (5-4, 3.04) closes the set against ol’ buddy Jeff Locke (0-1, 3.48). The 30-year-old Nova will be making his 13th start of the season and we’ll be keeping an eye on his knee – he left his last game in the top of the seventh with left knee inflammation and has been working with a gimpy joint for his last several outings, which may help explain his late-inning fades of late. In spite of that, Nova has tossed at least six innings in every 2017 start and has allowed more than three earned runs in just two of those appearances. His last effort against the Fish was a good one – he threw a three-hit shutout with 95 pitches while winning a 4-0 decision. Locke-Down has only made two starts for Miami this year after rehabbing from a shoulder injury. It was like the old days; a good outing followed by a not-so-good one. This is his first visit to PNC Park in a visitor’s uni and his first start against his old posse.

Notes:

• This is big if true: Clint told the media after yesterday’s game that “We’re going to use the bullpen to win games, not count saves.” Can a beard, man bun and flannel shirt be next in the skipper’s future?
• Charlie Wilmoth in MLB Trade Rumors “Taking Inventory” series looks at potential Pirates trade pieces up and down the roster.
• Edgar Santana became the seventh player to debut in the show for the Bucs this season. The others are Jose Osuna, Dovydas Neverauskas, Gift Ngoepe, Danny Ortiz, John Bormann and Chris Bostick.
• BTW, the draft begins tomorrow night.
• Baseball America’s Tracy Ringolsby has a piece of Gateway HS’s Tim Conroy who went straight from high school to the majors in the late 70s.