This is probably not where the Pirates wanted to find themselves two days after the All-Star Break. They've dropped two in a row to the Reds, they're facing Homer Bailey, and their lead on Cincy will drop to just one game with a loss this afternoon. The Pirates went into the break with a nice enough cushion that they could withstand this sort of thing, but it'd be nice to have that cushion last longer than a week or two after the break.
Bailey pitches for the Reds today, Jeff Locke is going for the Pirates. Locke's worth watching since he was scratched from his last start, but that seems like it was more precautionary than anything at this point. He's pitched well in two starts against the Reds this year. First pitch today is at 1:10, which is more or less right now.
