The Pittsburgh Pirates returned to the .500 mark last night, as the Pirates took care of the Phillies 6-5. The Pirates look to get back to a winning record tonight as they send former Phillies pitcher A.J. Burnett to the mound. The Phillies will counter with right-handed pitcher Sean O'Sullivan, fresh off of the disabled list.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Pittsburgh Pirates (16-16) | Philadelphia Phillies (11-22) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | A.J. Burnett | RHP | Sean O'Sullivan | ||
| (1-1, 1.66 ERA) | (0-1, 4.91 ERA) | ||||
Sean O'Sullvan comes off of the disabled list tonight to make the start for the Phillies. When Sullivan joined the the Phillies rotation in early April, it was meant to be a spot start or two until right-handed pitcher Chad Billingsley joined the Phillies rotation. Thanks to the struggles of David Buchanan, O'Sullivan will get another chance, even though Billingsley has joined the Phillies staff.
A.J. Burnett could have stayed with the Phillies and earned $12 million in 2015. However, Burnett decided to rejoin the Pirates at about 2/3 of that money. Yesterday in an interview with Comcast Sports Net Philadelphia, Burnett praised Philadelphia and his teammates, but said since he had just one year left, he wanted to return to the place that he was most comfortable in his career, the Pittsburgh Pirates.
So far that comfort had led to success for Burnett. Burnett is 1-1 with a 1.66 earned run average in six starts. In every start, Burnett has allowed no more than two runs. Burnett's lone loss came on April 14 against Detroit, when he allowed just one earned run in six and two-thirds innings. The Pirates' offense or bullpen have let Burnett down this season.
Starting Lineups:
| Pittsburgh Pirates (15-16) | Philadelphia Phillies (11-21) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | RF | Gregory Polanco | L | 1 | LF | Ben Revere | L |
| 2 | 2B | Neil Walker | S | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | CF | Andrew McCutchen | R | 3 | 2B | Chase Utley | L |
| 4 | LF | Starling Marte | R | 4 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L |
| 5 | 1B | Pedro Alvarez | L | 5 | RF | Jeff Francoeur | R |
| 6 | SS | Jung Ho Kang | R | 6 | 3B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 7 | 3B | Josh Harrison | R | 7 | LF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 8 | C | Francisco Cervelli | R | 8 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 9 | P | Gerrit Cole | R | 9 | P | Jerome Williams | R |
The Phillies lineup will feature Cesar Hernandez at third base. The Phillies are currently between third basemen, as Cody Asche has been optioned to AAA Lehigh Valley to play left field, and Maikel Franco has not hit the magic contractual date that will give the Phillies an extra year of control. Until Franco is recalled (probably this weekend), expect Hernandez to get much of the play at third base.
Hernandez has had a strong month of May. In nine games, Hernandez is batting .278, but has been showing great discipline. Mixing in seven walks, Hernandez has been getting on base at a .480 clip.
Jung Ho Kang continues his hot play and will man the shortstop position. The struggles of third baseman Josh Harrison have led to reduced playing time, and Kang has taken advantage of the opportunity to get into the lineup more. Harrison is batting just .173, while Kang is batting .333 in 51 at bats since joining the Pirates this offseason. Today Kang will take Jordy Mercer's spot at shortstop.
Broadcast Information:
- First-pitch: 7:05 pm EST
- TV: CSN
- Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
What's Next:
- LHP Francisco Liriano (1-2, 2.79 ERA) vs. LHP Cole Hamels (2-3, 3.68 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Thursday, May 14, 2015: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:05 pm
- RHP Vance Worley (2-2, 4.63 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Harang (3-3, 2.38 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Frank Klose (@philliedelphia) is founder of Philliedelphia.com.
