The Pirates (21 – 16) return home tonight to take on the Milwaukee Brewers (15 – 20). A.J. Burnett (3 – 3, 2.57 ERA) will take on Marco Estrada (2 – 2, 6.05 ERA) in the first of a four-game set. The Brewers took 2 out of 3 in Milwaukee at the end of April and are 71 – 25 since 2007 against the Buccos.
— Neil Walker has been activated from the DL. Jordy Mercer has been sent back to AAA Indianapolis to make room for Neil.
— Jason Grilli was seen quickly leaving the Pirates clubhouse in street clothes due to “personal reasons”.
Hurdle’s Notes
On Jordy Mercer’s future in Pittsburgh, possibly at SS — “I’m a fan. If the way things would play out and we come to spring training (2014), he could very well be the guy that gets the shot to play shortstop.”
On Grilli’s Availability tonight – “I don’t know, we don’t know”
On the Pirates recent woes against the Brewers in Milwaukee – “We just haven’t played well against them. They played better. They pitched better, they hit better, we don’t execute off the mound well at all in that ballpark which has been very disappointing.”
“I thought the last game there, we finally got something in play that worked. We’ll see how that plays out this home stand and then eventually we’ll get to go back there and try to do significantly better than in the past.”
On the “Immaculate deflection” in the 8th inning in New York yesterday afternoon and how it plays with momentum – “The thing that no one wanted to hear yesterday was that we finished a play. I’ve never seen a ball hit a base and be an out, so when I saw the ball hit the base, I went “ohh, how lucky are they”, and then I saw us catch it and we were luckier, but in the end, we weren’t lucky.
“We finished a play. He (Inge) caught the ball, the pitcher didn’t quit on the play, the second baseman didn’t quit on the play. There was a lot that went into it, but we finished a play. I think that says something about our club. I’ve been on clubs when that ball would have gone up in the air and everybody probably would have stopped and thrown their hands up in the air and that wasn’t the case so where it goers, we’ll see.”
Rehabbing Pitchers
Jeff Karstens – Throwing 3 innings or 50 pitches today for High A Bradenton.
Charlie Morton – Threw a side session today. (35 pitches of all four pitches on the mound) If it goes well then he will he will throw 4 innings or 65 pitches in a scripted game for Altoona on the 16th.
James McDonald – On hold, for now.
Other Notes
— In his last 10 games, Jose Tabata is hitting .429 (12-for-28) with 2 homers and 4 RBI. Last season, he hit a total of 3 homers and only 1 in his final 74 games. (221 at-bats)
— Pirate starters have a combined 1.57 ERA over the last 6 games (34 1/3 IN, 3 ER) and a 2.40 ERA in 10 games this month (56 1/3 IN, 15 ER).
— The Brewers are 5 – 9 on the road and have only won a single series (1 – 3 – 1).
— The Brewers are 23 – 12 at PNC Park since 2008, including the last 4 games. That is the best record by a Pirates opponent.
First pitch is set for 7:05
(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
