PNC Park– The Pirates (33 \u2013 20) are looking for their fifth straight 4-game series victory over the Tigers (29 \u2013 22) as Jeff Locke (5 \u2013 1, 2.45 ERA) takes on Doug Fister (5 \u2013 2, 3.65 ERA). Last night, The Pirates used a 4-run seventh to propel themselves to a 5 \u2013 3 victory.<\/p>\n
Leading Off<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With a victory tonight, the Pirates will have 19 for the month of May. The most since September of\u2026\u2026Wait for it\u2026\u2026\u20261992.<\/p>\n Hurdle\u2019s Quotes<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the possibility of Wilson and Mazzaro helping Melancon in the 8th<\/sup> inning to keep his innings down \u2013 <\/strong>\u201cI do. Tony Watson got the first opportunity, last night. He\u2019s had them in the past. With Mazzaro\u2019s stuff: Number one, we need to get him the opportunity to get him in the for the experience value. Number two, to see his stuff plays the same because that\u2019s always the challenge for the individual pitcher.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJustin has been given a little bit more along the way from time to time. There\u2019s evidence the other night in Detroit his stuff still played big late, in the eighth and ninth innings and he pitched to the middle of the order in that second inning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On how the Pirates hitting has adjusted to starting pitching as the game progresses and how they communicate to the coaching staff about the situations \u2013 <\/strong>\u201cJay (Bell) is the front man for the conversations. I\u2019ll engage periodically, I might have a direct message I want to send. They also come up here (into the clubhouse) and review videotape with Jeff Branson, who\u2019s been a wonderful addition to our staff. At the end of the day, sometimes it\u2019s good to walk away from the dugout and see what the guy\u2019s throwing on the video screen so they can just go \u201cwow, it felt nasty at the plate and it really is so you know what, I need to lighten up on myself a little bit\u201d.<\/p>\n Other Notes<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n — Jose Tabata <\/strong>(15-day DL, Left Oblique Strain) <\/strong>started picking up physical activity last night. He had some complications from a root canal but will be picking up more activity as the homestand moves on.<\/p>\n — Tomorrow night will be the 1,000th<\/sup> game played at PNC Park against the Cincinnati Reds. Ironically enough, the first game (played on April 9, 2001) was played against the Reds. The Pirates are 487 \u2013 511 all-time at PNC and 100 \u2013 90 under Clint Hurdle<\/strong> at home.<\/p>\n — The Pirate bullpen (The Shark Tank) continues to be the best in baseball as they are 1st<\/sup> in wins (13), ERA (2.67), saves (24), and opponents batting average against (.212). They are second in the majors in strikeouts (175) behind the Indians\u2019 177.<\/p>\n — Eight of the Pirates last 12 games have been decided by one run. (They are 6 \u2013 2 in those games). They are also 23 \u2013 11 in games decided by two runs or less (13 \u2013 6 at home).<\/p>\n First pitch is set for 7:05.<\/p>\n (Photo Credit: Mike Stobe\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PNC Park– The Pirates (33 \u2013 20) are looking for their fifth straight 4-game series victory over the Tigers (29 \u2013 22) as Jeff Locke (5 \u2013 1, 2.45 ERA) takes on Doug Fister (5 \u2013 2, 3.65 ERA). Last night, The Pirates used a 4-run seventh to propel themselves to a 5 \u2013 3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[616,988,495,520,377],"class_list":["post-15318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional","tag-clint-hurdle","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-jose-tabata","tag-mlb","tag-pittsburgh-pirates"],"yoast_head":"\n