Pirates-Indians Friday: News, Notes, Lineups

Here are some news and notes before tonight’s Indians-Pirates game. And the lineups:

Bats on Fire: The Pirates bats got extremely hot in Detroit and the result was a three-game series against the Tigers in which they produced 48 hits and scored 22 runs.

A key to the surge is that Jordy Mercer, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez have all busted out of slumps in the past week and the lineup became very difficult to pitch to.

Mercer said that hitting is indeed contagious and said that having Walker rolling is important because he drives in runs and can do so in many different spots in the lineup and from both sides of the plate.

“When it is going like this you don’t want to be the guy to get out, you want to pass the baton and keep things rolling,” Mercer said. “I think we have had four or five guys get hot at the right time and when you can get five or six guys on a roll, I think the sky is the limit for this team.

“I think whether you put Neil in front of Cutch [Andrew McCutchen] in the lineup or behind him the other team knows they can’t just settle down on Cutch, they know they have to deal with Neil too and when you figure in Marte, who has been hitting, putting those three back-to-back-to-back it makes us really dangerous.”

Third baseman Josh Harrison said that the key to the Pirates success against Detroit and, he hopes, going forward is that all eight hitters in the lineup were tough outs.

He said if you look at the Pirates lineup, their strength is their versatility and the way they all seem to complement each other and in turn rely on each other.

“We have a good group of guys,” Harrison said. “And our pitchers have also had good at bats and have gotten some bunts down and things like that. So when you have guys one through eight and can do different things, guys who can run, guys who can hit for power, etc., it puts pressure on the other side.”

Pitcher moves: The Pirates have lost minor league pitcher Clayton Richard, who was acquired by the Cubs for cash considerations. Richard had a clause in his contract which stated if another team wanted him for their 25-man roster the Pirates had to trade him.

Also, highly regarded Jameson Taillon had another setback in his road to recovery from Tommy John surgery as the Pirates announced he will undergo surgery to repair an inguinal hernia late next week.

The typical return to competition after that particular surgery is two months.

International Prospects: Friday was the first day of the international signing period and the Pirates signed Dominican outfielder Kevin Sanchez, Dominican catcher Samuel Inoa and outfielder Larry Alcime from the Bahamas.

Sanchez, 16, will receive a $450,000 signing bonus, Inoa, 16, will receive a $240,000 bonus and Alcime, 16, will receive a signing bonus of $350,000.

A big fan in Harrison: Mo’Ne Davis became a 13-year old celebrity in the 2014 Little League World Series as she helped pitch her team from Philadelphia to an exciting run of wins.

She was the first girl to earn a win and pitch a shutout in Little League World Series history and while she was the 18th girl to play in the LLWS, she was the first African-American girl.

Friday she threw out the first pitch at PNC Park before the Pirates-Indians game to the delight of the crowd – and she also had a big fan in the Pirates dugout in Harrison.

“It was exciting to see [her pitch],” Harrison said. “And what she did last year was something that everyone took notice of and it is cool to see her [at PNC] because she is an athlete and you can tell she has fun in what she does and that is what it is all supposed to be about.”

A natural rival: The Pirates and Indians have very little history over the years as they have only played each other 33 times.

But as Clint Hurdle found out quickly, the Indians and Pirates don’t have to play often for it to be a rivalry as one team resides in Cleveland, the other in Pittsburgh and that’s enough.

“I hear this is the most important series of the year,” Hurdle said. “In fact, I heard that a couple of times coming in here today, actually from some Pirates employees. It was ‘you know, great job in Detroit but you really need to win these games!’

“So I found that interesting.”

Lineups:

Pirates

Harrison - 3B

Walker - 2B

McCutchen - CF

Marte - LF

Alvarez - 1B

Cervelli - C

Polanco - RF

Mercer - SS

Morton - RHP

Indians

Kipnis - 2B

Lindor - SS

Brantley - LF

Murphy - RF

Moss - 1B

Gomes - C

Urshela - 3B

Bourn - CF

Bauer - RHP