Jon Niese faces Charlie Morton as the Pirates try to defeat the Mets in the rubber match of their series. Here’s the Mets’ lineup:
Mike Baxter LF
Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF
David Wright 3B
Lucas Duda RF
Daniel Murphy 2B
Ike Davis 1B
Ronny Cedeno SS
Rob Johnson C
Jon Niese P
And here’s the Pirates’:
Josh Harrison RF
Gorkys Hernandez LF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Neil Walker 2B
Casey McGehee 1B
Rod Barajas C
Yamaico Navarro 3B
Clint Barmes SS
Charlie Morton P
This certainly isn’t a lineup that looks particularly scary on paper, but Harrison and Barajas have been the Pirates’ best hitters recently, along with McCutchen. (Long-term, though, or even medium-term, the Pirates must come up with a better solution to the outfield vacancy left by Alex Presley than to start Harrison there.) Newcomer Gorkys Hernandez gets a start in the outfield. Pedro Alvarez and Garrett Jones sit against the lefty Niese.
For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout. For more on the Mets, there’s Amazin’ Avenue.