PITTSBURGH — Will this be merely another cameo for Nick Kingham? Or will the Pirates keep the young man around even after he makes his spot start this evening?
Either option is in play after Clint Hurdle announced this afternoon that Josh Harrison will likely be activated from the disabled list for Sunday’s series finale against the Padres. The Pirates could keep Kingham in any variety of roles and send Adam Frazier to the minors, or they could maintain a five-man bench until they’re ready to activate Joe Musgrove.
Kingham (2.92 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 0.65 WHIP in 12 1/3 innings) will oppose Clayton Richard (5.20, 3.96, 1.45 in 53 2/3) tonight, as the Pirates try to rebound from a rare loss against one of Major League Baseball’s various basement-dwellers. Even after last night’s 3-2 defeat, the Pirates (26-18) are 7-2 against last-place teams this season.
Believe it or not, a win tonight for the Padres (18-28) could move them ahead of the defending National League champion Dodgers. The Pirates, meanwhile, have fallen a half-game back of the Brewers for the top spot in the Central.
If you’re still buzzing off Austin Meadows’ positive debut, here’s more from Alan Saunders on that very subject …
http://18.206.184.11/2018/05/meadows-debut-more-about-the-moment.html
PIRATES LINEUP
The Pirates aim to get back on the win wagon with lefties Frazier and Colin Moran on the bench against the southpaw Richard, but Meadows will get another crack at the bigs …
Here's our Saturday night lineup, presented by Honda.#LetsGoBucs
PADRES LINEUP
The speedy and pleasingly hirsute Travis Jankowski leads off for San Diego …
It’s @CRThrees on the mound for Game 3️⃣ vs. PIT at 4:05pm PT today! Here’s the full lineup: pic.twitter.com/IalixOVXDa
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 19, 2018
CONDITIONS
It’s been a touch-and-go day and that will apparently continue into the evening hours. Per Weather.com, the temperature will hover in the 70s through the night, but the threat of thunderstorms will linger from 5 p.m. until the wee hours of Sunday.
