I haven’t been writing a whole ton about the Pirates’ awful run against the Reds and Brewers because the basic reality is this: I lack the computing capacity to process it. I figured that at some point in the season, the Pirates would start beating these two teams. They have not. I don’t understand why. It’s frustrating, and it’s affecting the way that I look at the team as a whole. I don’t know what else to say about it.
After trotting out a brutal lineup for Labor Day yesterday, Clint Hurdle has attempted to put what might be his best lineup on the field for tonight’s tilt. Aramis Ramirez is at first base, which frees up Jung Ho Kang for third and Jordy Mercer for short. Pedro Alvarez has actually hit slightly better than Ramirez over the last month (since Ramirez pulled himself together, which I’m dating to August 5th, Alvarez has a .907 OPS and Ramirez has a .900 OPS), but Alvarez’s defense is so brutally bad that I’m willing to watch the club consider just about anything. I also think that Mercer almost has to play short, given how limited the defensive range is when Ramirez, Kang, and Walker play from third around to second. This is worth a shot, at least, and it’d get Kang into the lineup more regularly, which I think is important.
Francisco Liriano starts for the Pirates, while Raisel Iglesias starts for the Reds. Iglesias was a bit of an unknown with good peripherals and a bad ERA the last time the Pirates saw him, but he mostly shut the Pirates down and has been excellent since then (he’s got a 2.31 ERA in his last seven starts now to go with that sparkly 10.0 K/9). This will not be an easy matchup for the Pirates. First pitch is at 7:10.
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