BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
SAN FRANCISCO — Getting ready for first pitch …
Game: Pirates (27-24) vs. San Francisco Giants (30-23), 10:15 p.m., AT&T Park
Pitchers: RHP A.J. Burnett (5-1, 1.81) vs. RHP Chris Heston (5-3, 3.82)
TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan
Online: Gameday / Multimedia / Media notes
Pregame notes 7:24 p.m.: Only thing noteworthy in today’s lineup — always found with one click on our Gameday link here, by the way — is the same as usual: Jordy Mercer in for Jung Ho Kang. Or vice versa on other days. I’d get used to this and not read too much into it, based on what Clint Hurdle said. They find it important that Kang played only 120-130 games a year in South Korea, where the seasons are much shorter, and they don’t want to wear him out from that or from what Hurdle called “almost a daily exam he’s got to take” in learning every opponent, every pitcher from scratch. … Gregory Polanco was a good sport in fielding a series of questions from Bay Area media about the fan in the Barry Bonds shirt who interfered with his trying to catch a ball last night. I mention this not because the interference was significant to the outcome — it wasn’t — but because it’s the first time I’ve seen Polanco take on a group of strangers like that without seeking a translator. He actually looked like he had a little fun with it. “The guy was really nice to me,” Polanco recalled. “He was saying, ‘Sorry! Sorry!’ I don’t know what happened.” … There’s a good chance Andrew McCutchen will get tomorrow off. That would give him back-to-back days off going into Atlanta. Hurdle and McCutchen just met in the manager’s office, standard operating when he gets a day off. … Jameson Taillon, set back a month by a heel cut, pitched three innings in extended spring training today without incident.
Hunter Pence towers over the main entrance to AT&T Park. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC
June 2, 2015
Pregame notes: Pirates-Giants
by Dejan Kovacevic • Game previews
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
SAN FRANCISCO — Getting ready for first pitch …
Game: Pirates (27-24) vs. San Francisco Giants (30-23), 10:15 p.m., AT&T Park
Pitchers: RHP A.J. Burnett (5-1, 1.81) vs. RHP Chris Heston (5-3, 3.82)
TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan
Online: Gameday / Multimedia / Media notes
Pregame notes 7:24 p.m.: Only thing noteworthy in today’s lineup — always found with one click on our Gameday link here, by the way — is the same as usual: Jordy Mercer in for Jung Ho Kang. Or vice versa on other days. I’d get used to this and not read too much into it, based on what Clint Hurdle said. They find it important that Kang played only 120-130 games a year in South Korea, where the seasons are much shorter, and they don’t want to wear him out from that or from what Hurdle called “almost a daily exam he’s got to take” in learning every opponent, every pitcher from scratch. … Gregory Polanco was a good sport in fielding a series of questions from Bay Area media about the fan in the Barry Bonds shirt who interfered with his trying to catch a ball last night. I mention this not because the interference was significant to the outcome — it wasn’t — but because it’s the first time I’ve seen Polanco take on a group of strangers like that without seeking a translator. He actually looked like he had a little fun with it. “The guy was really nice to me,” Polanco recalled. “He was saying, ‘Sorry! Sorry!’ I don’t know what happened.” … There’s a good chance Andrew McCutchen will get tomorrow off. That would give him back-to-back days off going into Atlanta. Hurdle and McCutchen just met in the manager’s office, standard operating when he gets a day off. … Jameson Taillon, set back a month by a heel cut, pitched three innings in extended spring training today without incident.
Hunter Pence towers over the main entrance to AT&T Park. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC