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D-backs line-up:
- Gerardo Parra, RF
- Martin Prado, 3B
- Aaron Hill, 2B
- Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
- Alfredo Marte, LF
- A.J. Pollock, CF
- Wil Nieves, C
- Cliff Pennington, SS
- Trevor Cahill, P
Bit of a B-look to the Diamondbacks offense, even though the only changes are the replacement of Miguel Montero and Jason Kubel, with Nieves and Marte respectively. The former is likely a result of Montero having caught every inning of every game so far, and with the two extra-inning contests, that's the equivalent of seven in a row, at 63 innings pitched. As a yardstick, Yadier Molina is the only other NL catcher with more than 47 innings of work after the first week. Kubel gets the day off with a left-hander on the mound, so we'll see if Marte can get his first hit in the major-leagues tonight, in front of a home crowd.
Rodriguez got the decision in the Pirates only victory of the season to date, pitching 6.2 shutout innings as they blanked the Cubs, 3-0. We've done pretty well historically against him, tagging him with an L four out of the last five times he has pitched against the D-backs. However, hard to say how much of that is down to the current line-up, as the only players with 10 PAs are Martin Prado and Wil Nieves. Still, the collective line of .294/.368/.451 is pretty good. Random aside: I'd quite like Prado to get his on-base percentage (.273) above his batting average (.281). He now has 33 PAs without a walk, the most in the majors. So far, 91% of his PAs have ended with a ball in play.
Cahill last saw the Pirates in 2010, and went 7.2 scoreless innings, holding them to two hits and three walks, with ten strikeouts: the same again this evening would be very welcome. But, again, there's very little in the way of past form to go on, with Travis Snyder (1-for-8) the only Pittsburgh hitter to have seen Trevor on even a handful of occasions. Still, can't object to a collective line of 4-for-28 with one extra-base hit. Cahill fanned seven Cardinals in less than six innings last time, and was somewhat unlucky to lose, a Holliday 5-iron and Heath Bell not exactly helping his cause.
Shame that we're not throwing Kennedy at Pittsburgh this series, as I was looking forward to a victory recap using the title "Pirates of the Can't-hit-Ian". But, as long as I get a victory recap - ideally in regulation, please - that'll do for me.