The bullpen has been throwing a lot of innings as of late so this move is probably somewhat temporary.  They aren’t going to go with that short a bench for too long, so another bat is going to be coming up, probably as soon as the next series against Detroit.

Maybe some Jake Fox action?

No rest for your Buccos.  They obviously slept with whoever makes the schedules significant other.  No rest traveling from Pittsburgh to Florida to Washington to Detroit back to Pittsburgh?  Seems fair on top of the hardest schedule in baseball.  You know how I feel about fairness though.

First Pitch: 7:05 PM EST

Where to Watch:  Root Sports, MLB.TV, MASN

Gio Gonzalez, LHP (26)

Great news! The Pirates miss Stephen Strasburg this time through! Bad news they hit Gio Gonzalez.

So it looks like the Pirates will have to hunker down and get through the “Gio Storm”.

In all seriousness though Gio has been a great addition for the Nats. He has pitched awesome.

The move over from the American League definitely seems to have worked in his favor. At least until this point. Let’s be honest here. He probably has NEVER faced an offense like the Pirates.

In fact he has only faced the Pirates once. Waaaaaaay back in 2010 when the offense was just competent.

NOOOOOOO DECISION!

Funny how it seems like Rod Barajas just kills every pitcher.

Erik Bedard, LHP (33)

Erik Bedard is back and he is pissed. Well probably not. He appears to be one of the more even mannered individuals ever so he’s probably just ready to punch the clock and get back out there.

Do people punch clocks on a large scale anymore? I know all of our stuff is handled via technology. Swipe the clock is probably more like it.

People don’t carry lunch pails too often either. Usually some sort of lunch box or insulated cooler.

I don’t know what’s up with all the blue collars references for athletes. Have MLB players ever been paid an hourly wage? When was the last time one of them had to pack their own lunch?

That said, do you think their wives pack them snacks? Do they pick on the guy whose wife brown bagged everything for him and cut the crust off his tuna?

This is getting way off topic here, but I ate a tuna melt from Dunkin Donuts today. Solid 6, possible 7 if it didn’t stick to the wrapper so bad. Croissant was good.

You remember Eazy E’s last start right?

Let me refresh your memory with some hard data.

Yup, it was against these same Nationals. Bedard was looking good and then suddenly, back spasms. Now we are going to break some news here, once in a while we get a nugget. His back spasms were actually caused because his back wasn’t strong enough TO CARRY THE WHOLE OFFENSE ON HIS BACK EVERY NIGHT.

Maybe they should start hitting then, huh? Save his back for the playoffs? They are averaging less than three runs a game for the guy. HELP HIM OUT!

Anyway, he has been good against the Nationals. The numbers show that he only averages five inning per start against the Nats, but that one inning start really killed that.

Still looking for his first win….. I gotta feeling!

A nice start from Brad Lincoln and some timely hitting combined for a big win in the first game of a short series on the road.

If Lincoln just could add an average changeup I would feel really good about him in the rotation.  Until then I’m just cautiously optimistic.

How about a hand for Jason Grilli as well?  He did what he had to do to get out of a huge huge jam.

Three in a row?  Who is this team?

Also, don’t look now but Rod Barajas has put up a  line of .258/.281/.548 over the course of his last ten games.

First Pitch:  7:10 PM EST

Where to Watch:  Root Sports, MLB.TV, FS-F

Josh Johnson, RHP (28)

A two time All Star and former Cy Young candidate pitching against the Pirates? What else is new. Johnson only made nine starts last season due to injury and he has not been the same pitcher this year.

It’s been really up and down for Johnson, so he could be dominant or he could be bad. He has zero wins, but he does have four quality starts. His non-quality starts have been pretty abysmal though.

Let’s just hope for the bad Johnson and make it easy….. I won’t hold my breath though.

One of his nine starts last year was against the Pirates, and he was lights out.

Domination to be sure.

It’s hard to not get the win when you pitch that good…. unless you play for the Pirates.

If the Pirates do hang a loss on him it will be the first time they’ve done so in his career.

Like I said, lets just hope for the bad Johnson, because the normal Johnson doesn’t give the Pirates much of a shot.

That felt dirty.

Kevin Correia, RHP (31)

I remember a time of chaos. Ruined dreams. This wasted land. But most of all, I remember The Road Warrior.

Time for Kevin Correia to get back to his winning ways. Just one win this season? Blasphemy for the All Star!

He should have gotten the win in his last outing but he didn’t. A big change from last season when he constantly picked up wins he didn’t deserve.

In fact the Pirates are having a ton of trouble just winning in the games he pitches.

K-Core didn’t pitch against the Marlins last season, but he has faced them quite a bit in his career so here are the numbers.

They have whooped his ass, no?

Yuck.

Now the Pirates have a really odd road trip, with no days off. Miami, Washington, Detroit? Whatever…..

First Pitch: 7:10 PM EST

Where to Watch:  Root Sports, MLB.TV, FS-F

Anibal Sanchez, RHP (28)

Another tough, young pitcher, off to a career start.  Why not, eh?

Sanchez has a quality start in every game this season. He has pitched seven innings in his last four straight games.

So maybe he is due for a bad one?

If last year is any indication though it won’t be against the Pirates.

The ole Complete Game Shutout.

He has also smoked the Pirates in his only three career starts.

Keep in mind that CGSO really skews his career numbers with it being such a small sample size.

Rod Barajas absolutely destroys him, doubt we see it though.

Brad Lincoln, RHP (26)

People forget how young Lincoln is.

I mean he isn’t 22 but he did lose a season to Tommy John and he is younger then the Pirates whole rotation. He could conceivably become a solid pitcher.

He hasn’t made a start yet this year but he has pitched very well out of the bullpen.

Lincoln has only faced the Marlins one time in his career and it was as a reliever way back in 2010.

He threw one perfect inning, striking out three.

First Pitch:  1:35 PM EST

Where to Watch:  Root Sports, MLB.TV, FS-H

Wandy Rodriguez, LHP (33)

Can we please make something very clear right off the top. Wandy Rodriguez DOES NOT OWN THE PIRATES! HE DOES NOT OWN PNC PARK! I have been reading this all over the place in the lead up to, and throughout this series. Just because a guy has pitched a ton against the Pirates doesn’t mean he owns them. We will cover this more in a little bit.

Wandy is having a great year though. No doubt about that.

Now, onto my annoyance.

While the Pirates bats may not have been world beaters against Wandy last year, they weren’t shabby either.

And sure he did have a 2-1 record in those four starts, but it was in spite of his overall performance, not because of it.

Sure he struck out a lot of guys but the Pirates had no problems hitting him for the most part. Nothing spectacular.

Yes, he has a winning record against the Pirates. It is also true he has beaten them more than any other team except the Reds, who he has beaten eight times as well, but his numbers just aren’t out of this world. Certainly not approaching owning the Pirates.

He also hasn’t been some wiz at PNC Park, where he actually has a losing record for his career!

In addition to that Neil Walker, Clint Barmes, and Casey McGehee have all hit him pretty well.

A.J. Burnett, RHP (35)

What an outing for Burnett last time out, huh? I’m telling you this guy could very well be a steal. The steal!

I bet he had another inning in him too. It’s just that type of outing that doesn’t get Pirate pitchers wins. And it HAS to be pissing them off, regardless of what Clint Hurdle says.

I know people are down on Burnett for that 12 run outing but let’s be realistic, how often does something like that happen. I am more then content with his work thus far and would take any one of his starts on a regular basis.

The ERA is going to be inflated big time for a while because of that. Burghnett just needs to keep doing his thing.

Burnett hasn’t been so good against the Astros in his career, most of that coming many, many moons ago.

He also has almost no experience against current Astros, so take those stats for what they’re worth.

That guy is awful. He should be cut, tomorrow.

I’m not sure why “The Color Purple” himself Clint Hurdle has him batting second.

I don’t want it to seem like it’s only Nate’s fault. It definitely isn’t. But he is so bad.

The Pirates acquired Jeff Larish… If he is anything more than a AAA player Neal Huntington should be fired. More likely though he will be assigned to Triple A, Josh Harrison will be sent down, and Jake Fox will be brought up.

It hurts to even talk about the amazing outing James McDonald had last night. He should drop his nuts in every single Pirates next bowl of soup.

Either Gregg Ritchie is responsible for nothing in regards to performance or he should be fired.  Someone needs to suffer, someone needs to fall on the sword, someone has to be made an example.

First Pitch: 7:05

Where to Watch: Root Sports, MLB.TV, FS-H

J.A. Happ, LHP (29)

J.A. Happ is backing up last year’s terrible season with another, just as terrible season.

It’s been a very rough time since he came second in ROY of the voting in 2009. I guess going to Houston will do that to ya.

Of course Pirates bats had trouble with him last year, why wouldn’t they?

It’s just so hard to be positive about this bootleg team after last night.

His career numbers are actually better too. The Pirates just seems to struggle a bit against this guy.

Some guys have pretty good numbers. That’s good because to win baseball games these guys will actually have to hit the ball. Seems revolutionary I know, but that’s what has to happen.

Charlie Morton, RHP (29)

Pretty big start for Charlie who has not been great thus far.

I’m actually not AS down on Morton as some are. His SO numbers are better than last year and he is walking fewer guys. He needs to keep the ball in the park, which I think will happen naturally as he is a groundball pitcher.

That said he does have two very bad starts in a row and he must turn it around soon, before the rotation gets healthy.

Morton sure didn’t fool Astros hitters last season.

That led to a 2-2 record.

The Astros have basically bent Charlie Morton over and driven him to Cleveland over his career.

I’m sure Carlos Lee will hit four homers.

First Pitch: 7:05

Where To Watch:  Root Sports, MLB.TV, FS-H

Bud Norris, RHP (27)

Astros?  Bud?  It seems like the Pirates are playing against the SPCA. Thankfully that isn’t his real name. His real name is David. Not sure where bud came from so I’ll just assume he smokes copious amounts of marijuana.

Being a straight edge individual I can not condone this type of behavior so I hope Bud Norris gets smacked around a lot.

Ole’ Bob Marley here is having a pretty blah season. The only really impressive thing is the strikeout numbers. He smokes fastballs by guys like he smokes reefer. Often.

Willie Nelson does manage to strikeout lots of Pirates though, at least he did last year.

Decent enough numbers, but just decent.

Tommy Chong has neither owned, nor been destroyed by the Pirates. He K’s a ton, but that’s about it. His numbers are just okay, lifetime.

Pirates batter’s have some pretty decent success against him.

James McDonald,  RHP (27)

I think it’s safe to say that James McDonald is the real “Huntington Beach Bad Boy”, not that bum Tito Ortiz.

You could make the case that J-Mac has been the Pirates best pitcher.