Tuesday: LA Comes To Town - Bru Takes On Walker Buehler; Evans & Keller Return, Difo DFA'ed, Davis Optioned

Today’s Game: The Dodgers come to town for a three-game set. The opener starts at 7:05 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. It’s also Pup Night for Bucco fur fans.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B; Ke’Bryan Hayes 3B; Bryan Reynolds CF; Colin Moran 1B; Jake Stallings C; Gregory Polanco RF; Phil Evans LF, Kevin Newman SS; JT Brubaker P. No time wasted getting Phil the Thrill back in the saddle.

Pitchers: RHP JT Brubaker (4-4/3.74) kicks off the set against RHP Walker Buehler (4-0/2.82). We’ll see how a little rest affects JT; he came off bereavement leave on Friday and skipped a start with nine days off between visits to the hill. He put up six zeroes against the Rox in his last outing after being banged around in his prior two trips to the bump.  Bru has never squared off against Big Blue. Buehler has given up two or fewer runs in eight of his 11 starts, cutting down on long balls and walks to go with already excellent career hit and K numbers. He’s tossed once against the Bucs, in 2019, and shut them down on a run on five hits over six innings with six strikeouts.

Notes:

• Phil Evans is  done with rehab and active tonight while Mitch Keller has been reinstated from the Covid IL. UT Wilmer Difo was DFA’ed and LHP Austin Davis was optioned to Indy.
• Fraze brings a 10-game hitting streak into the game.
• The Pirates have lost 10 straight games to the Dodgers; their last win over Big Blue was in 2018 at PNC Park.
• 93.7 The Fan thinks Jose Tabata may be making a case for himself at West Virginia to land a legit minor league deal. We’re not sure there’s much of a market for 32-year-olds who have been out of pro ball since 2018, but hey…

Tomorrow’s Game: The game starts at 7:05 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. Tyler Anderson meets Goose Gonsolin.