Following a 3-4 seven game road trip, the Pirates return to Pittsburgh where they will spend the majority of May. \u00a0The Pirates head into this weekend’s series against the Cincinnati Reds with a 11-14 record, the same record they possessed at this juncture last year. \u00a0When the Pirates left on their trips to Atlanta and St. Louis, the offense was just showing signs of warming up. \u00a0Since then, it has shown it has consistency to it, which has been led by Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez.<\/p>\n
Over the past seven days, Tabata is hitting .333 and Alvarez is hitting .440. \u00a0The two have shown signs that the Pirates fans have longed for all season. \u00a0Along with the Tabata and Alvarez, strong performances by Erik Bedard and James McDonald have helped a Pirates club return to Pittsburgh with a respectable record so far.<\/p>\n
On a less happy note, Andrew McCutchen left yesterday’s game battling a stomach bug. \u00a0Hurdle said in his pre-game session with the media that McCutchen would be held out of the starting lineup, but would be made available off the bench. \u00a0When asked how he felt today, McCutchen said he was feeling better than yesterday, but not by much.<\/p>\n
Taking the mound for the Pirates will be Kevin Correia. \u00a0Correia walked five and had no strikeouts his last outing at Atlanta. \u00a0Correia, who is notoriously better on the road then at home, will need a good showing tonight to make his case to stay in the rotation once Jeff Karstens is healthy.<\/p>\n
Speaking of Karstens, both he and Chris Leroux have started a flat-throwin program in their rehabilitations from injuries. \u00a0Hurdle said that they are both throwing at 60 feet and he hopes to move them up to 90 feet shortly. \u00a0He said both pitchers feel like they are progressing.<\/p>\n
Facing the Pirates tonight will be Johnny Cueto. \u00a0Cueto, who always seems to have the Pirates number, is off to a 3-0 start posting a 1.39 ERA. \u00a0With the resurgence of the Pirates offense over the past two series, they will be put to the test against the strong rotation of the Reds and the Washington Nationals next week.<\/p>\n
Three things to watch:<\/p>\n
1) Kevin Correia – Correia put together a good showing in his last home start, but can he duplicate the success against the powerful Reds lineup who is trying to find their groove? \u00a0With it appearing Karstens is a few weeks away from returning to the team, Correia will need to make every start count to remain in the rotation.<\/p>\n
2) Clint Barmes – While Barmes has enjoyed a slight offensive improvement from the first couple weeks of the season, he has regressed thus far on the defensive side. \u00a0In 122 games last year, Barmes committed just 12 errors. \u00a0So far through 25 games this year, Barmes already has six errors.<\/p>\n
3) Neil Walker – Walker has a decent average at .277, but hasn’t showed any power at all this season. \u00a0Out of Walker’s 23 hits this season, only two are for extra-bases; both doubles. \u00a0Neither Walker nor McCutchen have left the yard this season, which is not common for the three and four hitters in a lineup.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Reds (12-12) at Pittsburgh Pirates (11-14)<\/p>\n
Johnny Cueto (3-0, 1.39 ERA) vs. Kevin Correia (1-1, 2.42 ERA)<\/p>\n
First pitch: 7:05 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pirates lineup:<\/p>\n
Tabata 9<\/p>\n
Presley 7<\/p>\n
McLouth 8<\/p>\n
Walker 4<\/p>\n
Jones 3<\/p>\n
Alvarez 5<\/p>\n
Barmes 6<\/p>\n
Barajas 2<\/p>\n
Correia 1<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Reds lineup:<\/p>\n
Cozart 6<\/p>\n
Stubbs 8<\/p>\n
Votto 3<\/p>\n
Phillips 4<\/p>\n
Bruce 9<\/p>\n
Rolen 5<\/p>\n
Heisey 7<\/p>\n
Hanigan 2<\/p>\n
Cueto 1<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Photo credits: Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following a 3-4 seven game road trip, the Pirates return to Pittsburgh where they will spend the majority of May. \u00a0The Pirates head into this weekend’s series against the Cincinnati Reds with a 11-14 record, the same record they possessed at this juncture last year. \u00a0When the Pirates left on their trips to Atlanta and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[625,80,983,616,495,519,520,1762,610,377],"class_list":["post-11490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional","tag-andrew-mccutchen","tag-baseball","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-clint-hurdle","tag-jose-tabata","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-nate-mclouth","tag-pedro-alvarez","tag-pittsburgh-pirates"],"yoast_head":"\n