BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
SAN DIEGO — Getting ready for first pitch …
Game: Pirates (25-23) vs. San Diego Padres (24-26), 10:10 p.m., Petco Park
Pitchers: RHP Charlie Morton (1-0, 2.57) vs. RHP Tyson Ross (2-4, 3.83)
TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan
Online: Gameday / Multimedia / Media notes
Pregame notes 7:23 p.m.: Josh Harrison is back in the lineup after being held out Friday for a sore shoulder. … Jung-Ho Kang is out, partially because he’d started four games in a row, partly because Clint Hurdle wants Jordy Mercer behind Ground Chuck. I asked Hurdle about the latter, jokingly referring to Mercer as a ‘personal shortstop’ for Morton, and you could tell the manager was trying to hedge from saying the priority was the best defensive infield. “It just worked out this way,” he said. … Mercer, on whether he prepares any differently for a game behind Morton: “Not at all. I mean, you know you’re going to be busy, but there’s no different thought process at all.” … Hurdle cut off any additional second-guessing of his decision to pull Francisco Liriano after 96 pitches and six innings — a no-brainer, in my eyes — by saying, simply, “Blame it on the manager. Anytime a bullpen decision doesn’t work, that’s on the manager.” … I finally got around to asking Andrew McCutchen about this hand gesture the Pirates have begun doing on the basepaths, the replacement for the old Zoltan in which both hands are face-down, level, one in front of the other. Cutch acknowledged he was playfully admonishing Pedro Alvarez from the dugout last night for tossing up the old Z after a big hit, so I assumed he’s again the arbiter of the cause. What does it mean? “Whatever anyone wants it to mean,” Cutch replied. … Great to see Rob Scahill, as promised, upbeat and enjoying some loose time in the clubhouse with his mates. Maybe it took multiple showers.
The real, not proverbial bucket of balls by the visitors’ dugout at Petco Park. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC
May 30, 2015
Pregame notes: Pirates-Padres
by Dejan Kovacevic • Game previews
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
SAN DIEGO — Getting ready for first pitch …
Game: Pirates (25-23) vs. San Diego Padres (24-26), 10:10 p.m., Petco Park
Pitchers: RHP Charlie Morton (1-0, 2.57) vs. RHP Tyson Ross (2-4, 3.83)
TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan
Online: Gameday / Multimedia / Media notes
Pregame notes 7:23 p.m.: Josh Harrison is back in the lineup after being held out Friday for a sore shoulder. … Jung-Ho Kang is out, partially because he’d started four games in a row, partly because Clint Hurdle wants Jordy Mercer behind Ground Chuck. I asked Hurdle about the latter, jokingly referring to Mercer as a ‘personal shortstop’ for Morton, and you could tell the manager was trying to hedge from saying the priority was the best defensive infield. “It just worked out this way,” he said. … Mercer, on whether he prepares any differently for a game behind Morton: “Not at all. I mean, you know you’re going to be busy, but there’s no different thought process at all.” … Hurdle cut off any additional second-guessing of his decision to pull Francisco Liriano after 96 pitches and six innings — a no-brainer, in my eyes — by saying, simply, “Blame it on the manager. Anytime a bullpen decision doesn’t work, that’s on the manager.” … I finally got around to asking Andrew McCutchen about this hand gesture the Pirates have begun doing on the basepaths, the replacement for the old Zoltan in which both hands are face-down, level, one in front of the other. Cutch acknowledged he was playfully admonishing Pedro Alvarez from the dugout last night for tossing up the old Z after a big hit, so I assumed he’s again the arbiter of the cause. What does it mean? “Whatever anyone wants it to mean,” Cutch replied. … Great to see Rob Scahill, as promised, upbeat and enjoying some loose time in the clubhouse with his mates. Maybe it took multiple showers.
The real, not proverbial bucket of balls by the visitors’ dugout at Petco Park. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC