Friday Night: Cards Come A'Calling - JT Brubaker v John Gant; Altoona, Bradenton Rosters Set

Today’s Game: First pitch is at 6:35 and the game will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. The two teams are nose-to-nose in the Central standings – the Pirates are 12-12, the Cards 13-12. And for as bad as the Bucs were in 2020, they finished 4-6 against the Redbirds. And the rain is going, going, gone…should be clearing skies and 50 degrees out for the game.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B; Erik Gonzalez 3B; Bryan Reynolds CF; Colin Moran 1B; Jake Stalllings C; Kevin Newman SS; Gregory Polanco RF; Kevin Newman SS; Ka’ai Tom LF; JT Brubaker P. Evans gets a night off and Tom gets his first Bucco start.

Pitchers: RHP JT Brubaker (2-1/2.01) opens against RHP John Gant (1-2.2.25). Bru is having whatever the opposite of a sophomore jinx is,. He hasn’t given up more than two runs in an outing, averages a K per frame, and has gotten into the sixth or beyond in his last three starts…pretty good stuff so far. JT has only worked two innings against St. Louis, giving up no runs on three hits and four K last year. Gant lobbied to escape the Redbird bullpen and got his shot this year when Miles Mikolas went down. Gant has been a five inning guy so far this year and walks on the wild side with 13 free passes in 20 IP, but he’s only given up one long ball and that goes a long way in this era. He’s 3-2-1/4.30 against the Bucs in 16 career appearances (four starts).

Notes:

• Short games: the Bucs are 10-0 when leading after the sixth inning and 0-11 when losing after six.
• The Pirates have played 14 games without making an error and played 14 games when they’ve banged a home run. So far, the leather is mightier than the lumber – the Bucs have a 9-5 record when they’re flawless in the field and 8-6 in games when they go deep.
• The Pirates are finalizing their minor league rosters: here is Class AA Altoona’s Opening Day roster and the Low A Bradenton Marauder’s lineup.

Tomorrow’s Game: The game is at 6:35 and will be carried in AT&T SportsNet PITT2 and 93.7 The Fan. Trevor Cahill is slated to take on Jack Flaherty.