This is a big week for the Pirates, because the universe has no regard for Josh Harrison’s torn thumb ligaments or Starling Marte’s strained oblique. The second half of the week is obviously the more exciting part, with the Pirates closing out the pre-All Star Break portion of their season with four games at PNC Park against the Cardinals. The first part of the week, three games against the Padres that start tonight, is not unimportant. If the Pirates can get into the break within four games of the Cardinals, I think they’ll be in solid shape for the season’s second half. They probably can’t do that if they lose this series to the Padres.
Anyway, Harrison is out tonight and while Starling Marte isn’t officially on the DL, he’ll likely miss at least a couple of games with this oblique problem. Harrison hasn’t actually played all that well of late (he’s got an ~.800 OPS since early May, but he’s below .700 during the Pirates’ recent 40-game hot streak) and Marte’s been a bit cold lately, too, but losing both of them will stretch this roster awfully thin. Presumably the recently-claimed Travis Ishikawa will take Harrison’s roster spot, and that will free Sean Rodriguez up to play some outfield while Marte is out.
Anyway, the Pirates don’t need to win 50 games with Marte and Harrison out. Right now, they just need to win tonight. AJ Burnett starts for the Pirates, while James Shields goes for the Padres. First pitch is at 7:05.
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