Reds at Pirates - Rubber Match Preview and Lineups

The Reds are in all likelihood hoping to beat the Pirates today. To get there, Sonny Gray will be on the hill huckin’ claw hammers at ‘em. He has been okay in his first four starts, but he did get cuffed around by the Cardinals a fair bit. I think he can handle this Pirates’ lineup, though. I hope so.

Trevor Cahill will be on the opposite bump. He was drafted by the A’s, like Sonny, but he hasn’t really been a serviceable starting pitcher for nearly a decade. He leads the league in Ls. The Pittsburgh Pirates still present themselves at social events with straight faces.

Bob Nutting is perfectly welcome to join Bob Castellini on a big dumb shameful boat set to sail down the river and out into the sea. Jerks.

This is four-straight games that Shogo starts on the bench, which is a bit upsetting to me. I might be more bullish on him than most, but I really do think he can be a legit top-of-the-order hitter even in an elite lineup like this one. Of course, Winker / Naquin / Castellanos is probably the very best outfield in baseball right now. So I’m not mad, just upset.

SOME GOOD MORNING CHARLIE SHIT

It’s an afternoon delight today so I’ll tuck a few stupid things down here in the preview.

A Dumb Thing - Amir Garrett had his appeal heard by MLB and his suspension has been dropped to five games from the initial seven.

No word from MLB yet on Gavin Lux’s fate.

Another Really Dumb Thing - Some dumb idiot at the Boston Globe thinks WFH is so 2000-and-late. What the hell is wrong with some people? One of the reasons they think going to the office everyday is Actually Good is that hectic commutes and traffic jams and tons of air pollution and scores of highway fatalities are worth it all because it gives us time to reflect on and process the days’ events.

I swear to god, this planet is going to kill me to death some day.

Do a good thing for somebody else today.