Through three games, this series at Citizen’s Bank Park has not followed a path that the Pirates are likely very likely to be pleased with. Monday’s game was a brutal and sloppy mess, Tuesday’s game was a winnable one that slipped away, and last night was very nearly an epic disaster.
All that being said, with a win today the Pirates escape Philadelphia with a split and all told, that’s not a terrible result. It’s maybe not what the Pirates wanted with the Cardinals playing well and waiting for them in St. Louis, but it’s not too bad, either. To achieve that end, AJ Burnett takes the mound this afternoon trying to win his eighth straight start, which is not something that I thought I’d ever be saying about any Pirate pitcher or AJ Burnett at any point. Kyle Kendrick is pitching for the Phillies, who used six pitchers last night and DFA’d Chad Qualls today, possibly just to get a fresh arm in the bullpen.
First pitch today is at 1:05. Afternoon baseball!
