The Pirates are using tomorrow’s off-day to reshuffle their rotation in Milwaukee. Gerrit Cole will get the start in the first game, followed by Jeff Locke and Francisco Liriano. The original rotation would have been Jeff Locke, Gerrit Cole, and Francisco Liriano. However, the off-day tomorrow allowed them to move Cole up a day.
As a result of this change, Cole will get a start in the very important St. Louis series, going up against the Cardinals next Sunday night. That St. Louis series will also see J.A. Happ and Charlie Morton pitch. Those two have been two of the best starters for the Pirates this month by the numbers. Meanwhile, Locke will go on seven days rest, and Liriano will go on six days rest. The break is good for Liriano, as he has been struggling a bit this month.
UPDATE 12:04 PM: Updates from Pete Ellis at PNC Park…
** The Pirates have also announced that the August 3rd rainout game against the Cubs will be made-up by way of a day-night doubleheader on September 15th. The make-up game will begin at 1:35 and the originally scheduled game will take place at its usual 7:05 start time.
** The Pirates are faced with a unique situation next Sunday when they play in St. Louis at 8:00 pm on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, as they will play in Cincinnati at 1:05 the following day. This will provide an interesting challenge for the Pirates, who will be forced to travel overnight to Cincinnati AND they will lose an hour due to the time-zone change. As tough as it will be, Clint Hurdle says that the team is ready to face the challenge.
“It will be something different for us,” Hurdle said. “It’s the price you pay for success. It all goes back to the Hurdle family rule – you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.”
As far as travel concerns for the Pirates, there are none.
“We’ve got this,” said Hurdle. “We just have to go out and play good baseball.”
