Roster Moves

A few late breaking roster moves before today’s game:

RHP Bryan Morris has been recalled from AAA. IF Jordy Mercer was optioned back down. Makes sense to send down Mercer since he hasn’t been playing at all. Morris is the last player left from the Jason Bay trade. He’ll be an extra arm in the bullpen.

IF Drew Sutton was claimed off of waivers. He’ll be the 25th man on the roster so Jordy Mercer can play every day in the minors. Sutton was part of the organization for about 24 hours last month when he was acquired from the Braves, then dealt to Tampa.

Dejan Kovacevic says that Morris is in town and available today, while Sutton will not arrive in time.

RHP Charlie Morton has been transferred to the 60-day DL to make space on the 40 man roster.

Today’s game starts at, well, now. Justin Verlander vs. Kevin Correia as the Pirates go for the sweep.

Mets Wrap Up

Scores:
Monday: 5-4 Win vs NY Mets. Three late runs win it. Box score.
Tuesday: 3-2 Loss vs NY Mets. Can’t solve the knuckler. Box score.
Wednesday: 3-1 Loss vs NY Mets. Only 1 run for the 9th time. Box score.

Season Record: 20-24, 4th place in NL Central, 5.0 games back

Notes: Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison were pretty much the whole show this series. I have nothing else good to say about the offense at this time. In two starts since his back spasms, Erik Bedard‘s totals are 11 IP, 8 ER, 12 H, 4 BB and 11 K’s. He hadn’t given up more than 2 ER in any of six pre-injury outings. If his next start continues the current trend the team may want to skip Bedard when his turn comes up again. The bullpen was stellar, allowing only 1 ER, 4 H and 3 BB with 11 K in 8 IP.

Combined Box

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP
Harrison, RF-SS	12	3	4	0	0	1	3	0.333	0.333
Walker, 2B	12	1	2	0	0	5	3	0.167	0.167
McCutchen, A, CF	11	1	4	4	0	3	5	0.364	0.333
Barmes, SS	8	1	3	1	1	1	4	0.375	0.400
Alvarez, 3B	8	1	2	1	0	2	5	0.250	0.250
Tabata, LF-RF	8	1	1	0	1	2	2	0.125	0.222
Barajas, C	8	0	1	0	0	4	2	0.125	0.125
McGehee, 1B	6	0	0	0	1	2	3	0.000	0.143
Jones, G, 1B	5	0	0	0	0	3	1	0.000	0.000
McKenry, C	4	1	1	2	0	2	3	0.250	0.250
Navarro, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	0.250	0.250
Hernandez, Go, LF	4	0	0	0	1	2	1	0.000	0.200
McDonald, J, P	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	0.000	0.000
Morton, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0.000	0.000
Bedard, P	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000	1.000
McLouth, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.000
Totals	96	9	20	8	4	31	34	0.208	0.235

Batting
Doubles (8): Harrison 3 (6), McCutchen, A (8), Alvarez (7), Walker (6), Barajas (6), Tabata (7)
Triples (1): Harrison (2)
HomeRuns (1): McKenry (3)

BaseRunning
SB: McCutchen (8)

Fielding
Errors: Alvarez (9)
Double Plays: (Barmes-Walker-McGehee)

Pitching

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP
McDonald, J	7.0	4	1	1	2	8	0	1.29	0.86
Morton (L, 2-5)	7.0	8	3	3	0	1	0	3.86	1.14
Bedard	5.0	6	4	4	3	4	0	7.20	1.80
Resop	2.7	1	0	0	1	2	0	0.00	0.75
Grilli	1.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0.00	0.00
Hanrahan (S, 10)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.00
Lincoln	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.00
Hughes, J (W, 1-0)	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0.00	2.00
Watson	0.7	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.00
Cruz, J (L, 1-1)	0.7	2	2	1	1	2	0	13.50	4.50
Totals	27.0	22	10	9	8	24	0	3.00	1.11

Transactions: Traded Drew Sutton to Tampa Bay Rays for cash. Activated RHP Jason Grilli from the Bereavement List. Optioned LHP Jeff Locke to AAA.

Tigers Wrap Up

Scores:
Friday: 6-0 Loss at Detroit. Verlander almost unhittable. Box score.
Saturday: 4-3 Win at Detroit. McCutchen leads the way again. Box score.
Sunday: 4-3 Loss at Detroit. 17 K’s, still almost won. Box score.

Season Record: 19-22, 3rd place in NL Central, 3.0 games back

Notes: Andrew McCutchen hits two more homeruns and the Pirates win. He gets no hits and they lose. Josh Harrison is hitting the ball well right now. I wouldn’t mind seeing him at shortstop a few games this week. Rod Barajas appears to have shaken off his early season slump. After a .143/.222/.184 April he’s hitting .310/.318/.667 in May. The writing is on the wall for Nate McLouth. He went 0-8 with 4 K’s over the weekend, including the game ender yesterday. All told he’s 0 for his last 20 with 9 K’s and 1 walk. Can we please get Gorkys Hernandez some at bats? It’s literally impossible that he could do worse. One of the biggest problems this team has on offense is strikeouts: 12 on Friday, 12 on Saturday, 17 on Sunday.

Combined Box

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP
Harrison, 2B, 3B, DH	11	3	3	0	1	3	1	0.273	0.385
Walker, 2B, DH	11	1	3	1	1	4	4	0.273	0.333
McCutchen, A, CF	11	2	2	4	1	4	6	0.182	0.250
Barmes, SS	10	0	2	0	0	4	2	0.200	0.200
Tabata, RF	9	0	1	0	0	0	2	0.111	0.111
Alvarez, 3B, DH	9	0	0	0	2	8	4	0.000	0.182
McLouth, LF	8	0	0	0	0	4	2	0.000	0.000
Barajas, C	7	1	2	2	0	4	3	0.286	0.250
Jones, G, RF, 1B	7	0	1	0	0	5	2	0.143	0.143
McGehee, 1B	7	0	1	0	0	2	2	0.143	0.143
Navarro, LF	3	0	1	0	0	2	1	0.333	0.333
McKenry, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.000	0.000
Totals	96	7	16	7	5	41	29	0.167	0.214

Batting
Doubles (2): Jones (6), Harrison (3)
HomeRuns (4): McCutchen 2 (7), Barajas (4), Walker (2)

BaseRunning
CS: Navarro (2)
PO: Navarro

Fielding
Passed Ball: Barajas 2 (4)
Double Plays: (Barmes-Walker-McGehee), (McGehee)

Pitching

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP
Morton (L, 2-4)	6.0	9	4	4	1	4	1	6.00	1.67
Burnett, AJ (W, 2-2)	6.0	7	2	2	3	2	1	3.00	1.67
Correia (L, 1-5)	6.0	4	3	3	0	2	1	4.50	0.67
Lincoln	1.7	2	0	0	0	4	0	0.00	1.20
Hanrahan (S, 9)	1.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0.00	1.00
Hughes, J	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.00
Cruz, J (H, 7)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	1.00
Grilli (H, 10)	1.0	2	1	0	0	1	0	0.00	2.00
Resop	1.0	2	2	2	1	0	0	18.00	3.00
Watson	0.3	1	1	0	1	0	0	0.00	6.00
Totals	25.0	28	13	11	7	17	3	3.96	1.40

Transactions: Optioned RHP Evan Meek to AAA. Recalled OF Gorkys Hernandez from AAA. Placed RHP Jason Grilli on the Bereavement List. Recalled LHP Jeff Locke from AAA. Acquired IF Drew Sutton from the Atlanta Braves for cash, assigned Sutton to AAA.