After avoiding much of Detroit’s vaunted rotation for 75% of this series (the 2014 version of Justin Verlander is not exactly what I’d call intimidating), the Pirates will match up with Max Scherzer at 1:08 this afternoon in Comerica. The Pirates will counter with Francisco Liriano, who’s been really excellent in his last five starts. Before the game, the Pirates announced that Neil Walker, who’s got a grand total of four plate appearances since August 1st, is not healthy yet but is no longer a “candidate” for the disabled list. This whole thing has been so monumentally dumb that it’s hardly even worth talking about at this point.
Anyway, Scherzer and Liriano at 1:08. A win keeps the Pirates in a playoff position and maybe moves them closer to first place. A loss could drop them all the way out of the wild card race.
