Today is the last day of Major League Baseball's regular season. It is the end of baseball for the fans and players of at least 19 (and maybe 20) of MLB's 30 teams. It is not the end for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In fact, the Pirates have done everything that they could in this past week, and so they've got home field advantage for Tuesday's wild card game locked up and nothing that happens today can change it.
As a result, Gerrit Cole and Johnny Cueto have been scratched for Brandon Cumpton and Greg Reynolds. The Pirates have Felix Pie, Travis Snider, John Buck, Garrett Jones, and Josh Harrison all in the starting lineup (along with Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, and Jordy Mercer, because you can't rest everyone given the roster constraints). Because this is the Reds' last home game of the year, they're running out their regular lineup, minus Brandon Phillips and the horror swelling off of his shin. I'm guessing that guys like Votto and Bruce and Choo will come out of the game as it progresses, but they'll at least start out with their regulars.
Enjoy today and the ridiculous lineup and whatever succession of Stolmy Pimentel and Kris Johnson follow Cumpton. Today should be for fun and for relaxation and absolutely no worries. Tomorrow? Tomorrow the stress begins.
