Pirates 2, Diamondbacks 1

Hopefully AJ gets some run support!

Pirates Lineup:
1. Josh Harrison (R) 3B
2. Gregory Polanco (L) RF
3. Andrew McCutchen (R) CF
4. Neil Walker (S) 2B
5. Starling Marte (R) LF
6. Pedro Alvarez (L) 1B
7. Francisco Cervelli (R) C
8. Jordy Mercer (R) SS
9. A.J Burnett (R) P

Free game of the day on MLB.com

Saw this guy De La Rosa pitch last May at Pawtucket. Her was nearly as impressive as Brock Holt. Had a few good games when called up. Surprised the Red Sox let him go, but they are never shy about trades.

Get 2 above .500 and keep it in the rear view mirror.

Cervelli has been a nice surprise this spring

Greetings Bucco Nation attempting to answer the call from Milo Hamilton. Not too many Bryan Morris stories but was on field for Bucs BP a bit ago and spent some time catching up with Chris Stewart on a bunch of items.

Hope all is well with you Milo .

Gotta keep pace with cards

Need a good outing with a win and start having the card lose!

Tonight's game can be seen on MLB-TV, free game of the day.

Whats with the 2 dozen or so people in the pit directly behind the plate?
New trend, big bucks or what? Rather distracting to my eye.

A friend told me that's a very casual fan friendly stadium.

Cutch is really struggling at the plate.

Pa clutch.

Another nice play by defensive wizard--Cervelli. Is Sanchez that much worse than this guy??

McCutchen just doesn't look comfortable at the plate.

Still time but but looking like yet another night where AJ is getting little support.

And Samson McCutchen needs to get it going! The Pirates aren't paying him a way-below-market-value contract to hit under .200! Hopefully this knee problem doesn't hamper him all year.

Cutch off to a super slow start. Would love to see him pick up his game a little.

Oof. Poor Jordy having to try to dive for that ball. That's gotta hurt right now.

Tied ballgame going into the last stages of the game. Let's see if the Bucs can pull this one out. AJ pitching well but have to say I'm really impressed with De La Rosa too.

Man, Cutch doesn't look right even when he's walking.

I know it's REALLY early, but if AJ keeps this up throughout the season, anyone thinking another year?

AJ done for the night. Great job! Hopefully they can get at least one in this inning.

Poor Lambo is ..... pardon the pun ...... snakebitten.

Cutch might be going through what Votto did last year. Just can't use his one leg enough to be effective

1st and 2nd, nobody out, Goldschmidt coming up. Trouble brewing.

Wehner saying that the runners won't go on the 3-2 count for fear of hitting into a triple play. Really? Cmon!

Watson is a beast...

Great job by Watson getting out of that jam! Wow!

Looks like Polanco is back to being cold again...this offense is so Jeckyll and Hyde.

Looks like Polanco is back to being cold again...this offense is so Jeckyll and Hyde.

Marte comes through and drives in Walker! 2-1

Marte! Let's go pen!

Not to diminish Cole's performance or Burnett's, but Arizona's lineup makes the Bucs look like the the '27 Yankees, to borrow a cliche. Hard to believe the D-Backs have won any games.

This would be a big win tonight...keep pace with the Cards who may now be without Wainwright as well as Molina.

Bucs back in their NL league-leading 2014 pattern of relievers getting an inordinately high percentage of the W-L decisions. Nothing wrong with that when winning though. A tribute to Hurdle's late inning match-up skills with the versatile Buc bullpen and overdue Buc hitters whacking mediocre rival bullpens.

Alright. Let's see if Melancon can seal the deal.

What are the Cards injuries?

Come on Mark...

Raise the Jolly Roger!

Raise it...I'm absolutely terrified of Melancon fastballs.

Nice win.

Raise it!!! Still lacking offense and still not convinced about Melancon but will take it. :)

AJ would probably win 15-20 games this year if he stays healthy and gets some run support.. The pattern continues - pitching keeps them in early in season and later hopefully the offense wins them some games..

melancon 87 and 86..yikes..great twin though. huge game by walker.

Geez, Lambo now has a BABIP of .083. Hopefully it doesn't start to wreck his confidence.

Last thought for the night:
Black Pirates jerseys > Black D'Backs jerseys.
Not even close.

Bucs can;t go along with a closer that can't close. They stuck to long with Grilli last year and cost them the division. He needs to pitch in the 7th if at all,

I only care about Melancon's velocity when he blows saves. Color me crazy.

Yep.......Melancon saves the game. That's what he get paid for.....right???

Cervelli is doing a nice job replacing Martin. But if the Pirates brass think they can let Walker go and replace him with Kung - this will kill our offense and come back to bite us big time.....