When I was a young kid, the only time that my parents would give me permission to skip school would be if there was a doubleheader. There is absolutely nothing like it for a baseball fan. You get to the stadium early, and you get to watch two games for the price of one. Today, fans from Pittsburgh will be arriving to the stadium and be guaranteed a minimum 17 innings of baseball and a maximum number to be determined.
After their rainout on Monday evening, the Pirates and Rockies will take part in the first doubleheader of the season. With the doubleheader, they will also be the first two teams to utilize the 26-man roster, a new feature for baseball this year. If the doubleheader is scheduled a day after the game is canceled, the teams must stick with 25 men. If the game is scheduled at least a day after the cancelation however, the teams are allowed to add an extra man to their roster for the doubleheader.
For the Pirates, they have elected to bring up Jared Hughes, who was sent down Saturday after A.J. Burnett was activated from the disabled list.
“He left pitching well and he did nothing to earn a demotion other than the stable got full,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said of Hughes. “He gave us length on a couple of different occasions and you’re looking at potentially 18 innings of baseball, so it felt very good.”
For the Rockies, they have elected to call up Zach Putman as their extra man.
Last night’s game had more ups-and-downs than the Thunderbolt at Kennywood park with the Pirates eventually coming out on top 5-4. The offense came together led by Andrew McCutchen and Clint Barmes to give the pitchers some much needed support.
Taking the hill today for the Pirates will be James McDonald and Charlie Morton. For the Rockies, Juan Nicasio and Jhoulys Chacin will take the bump. The Pirates and Rockies will be playing their second doubleheader head-to-head ever, the last coming in 2004 as the teams split.
Three things to watch:
1) Alex Presley – Presley has been the catalyst for the offense all season and is proving he isn’t a one-year wonder. He has hit safely in eight straight games, and will look to continue his streak today against Juan Nicasio.
2) The streak – No, not the 19-year streak, I’m talking about the 16 game streak. The Pirates or their opponents haven’t scored more than five runs yet this season. That mark ties the 1965 Pirates and is one game behind the 1943 Detroit Tigers for the all-time record.
3) Tony Watson – With the Pirates electing to bring up Hughes, that leaves Watson as the lone left-handed pitcher in the bullpen for both games. My guess was that Daniel Moskos would get the call up with Watson pitching last night. The Pirates right-handers in the pen are effective against lefties, but it will be interesting to see how Hurdle handles the match ups, especially with Watson.
Pirates (7-9) vs. Rockies (8-8)
First pitch: 12:35 p.m. ET
Second game to start approximately 30 minutes after the end of the first game.
Pirates lineup game 1:
Presley 7
Tabata 9
McCutchen 8
Walker 4
McGehee 3
Alvarez 5
Barmes 6
McKenry 2
McDonald 1
Photo credits: Getty Images
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