You as a Pirate fan likely have a lot on your mind. Can the Pirates win tonight? Can they somehow win tomorrow with Charlie Morton scheduled to start? If they do sweep the Cards to tie the division, can they actually beat the Reds enough to give that meaning? What if the Pirates and Cards end up tied for the division, who starts in Game 163? Who starts the Wild Card Game then? Failing all of this, can the Pirates beat Jake Arrieta? How unfair is the universe to have dealt the best Pirate team in more or less a generation this hand?
Deep breath. Focus. There is only one question that matters right now, and that question is this: Can the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals at 7:05 at PNC Park? A win will leave us with new questions. A loss will leave us with other questions. The Pirates are starting JA Happ tonight. Happ was not hugely impressive in either of his last two starts, but he did pitch very well a few weeks ago against a Cardinal team that has a tough time against lefties. He’s back at PNC Park after a trip to the unfriendly atmosphere of Coors Field. He’s probably the Pirates’ third best starter right now, and saying so isn’t really a slight against anyone. The Cardinals will start Lance Lynn. Lynn made three really terrible starts consecutively to start September, though he threw six easy shutout innings against the hapless Reds last time out. The Pirates obliterated Lynn at Busch Stadium in August, scoring seven times off of him without allowing him out of the first inning. They treated him similarly at PNC Park in July, chasing him after four bad innings in what became a relatively drama free 5-2 win. He shut them down back in St. Louis in May.
In other words, Lynn is a good pitcher, but he’s having a bad month and the Pirates often have his number. I can think of no better way to start this series than with a big number up on the scoreboard and a long night for the Cardinal bullpen. Lynn has only topped 100 pitches once since his debacle against the Pirates last month, so this is an achievable goal. First pitch of the only game of the 2015 season is at 7:05.
