Game 98 Preview: Pirates vs. Nationals

Pirates (58-39) at Nationals (48-51) 7:05 PM–Nationals Park, Washington MLB.com Gameday TV: ROOT The Bucs look for their third win in a row tonight as they take on the Nats in game two of this four game set. Pregame news: Jason Grilli was placed on the 15-day DL, unsurprisingly. There haven’t been many updates on him today…he’s headed back to Pittsburgh for more tests and it was apparent that he would need to be shut down for at least a week, so that triggered the DL stint right away. More info to come. In brighter injury news, Neil Walker has rejoined the club and is in the lineup tonight. The Bucs didn’t want to make a pitcher-for-position player swap, though, so they made two more roster moves. First, Brandon Inge was designated for assignment. He is gone. Finally. I’m sure he was an incredibly wonderful clubhouse guy, but with his mind-numblingly horrible numbers, it was well beyond time. Reliever Vic Black was called up from Triple-A. Losing Grilli will hurt the bullpen, of course, but Black is pretty much the ideal guy to have ready in the minors to replace him. He’s been closing in Indy and has been extremely successful lately, has a decent track record as a prospect, and can throw upper 90′s and possibly triple digits. He should be a fun guy to watch and will likely be a part of the ‘pen for a long time. Tonight’s starters… Gerrit Cole (4-3, 3.89) vs. Taylor Jordan (0-2, 3.32) Cole has lost three in a row and hasn’t been pitching all that well lately (although one of his losses was a strong start vs. Oakland). Still, it’s becoming somewhat apparent that he might be the Pirates’ worst starter at the moment. Cole has the ability to change that, and tonight is a good opportunity for him against a poor offense after a long rest. Jordan, another rookie, has pitched well so far this year but hasn’t gotten run support. He doesn’t strike many out and hasn’t gone deep into a game yet, but the righty has done fairly good work four games in to his major league career.