Gameday 10 - Diamondbacks

Pirates (3-6) at Diamondbacks (6-3)

9:40 PM ET

TV: ROOT Sports

Chase Field - Phoenix, Arizona

Starting Pitchers

Pittsburgh - Erik Bedard (0-2, 2.25 ERA)

Arizona - Joe Saunders (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

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Opponent Blog - Venom Strikes

MVP-candidate Justin Upton off to a slow start:

"The Arizona Diamondbacks are 5-1.  That alone isn’t that surprising.  This is a team that we all rightfully expected to be good.   What is shocking is that the Diamondbacks are 5-1 with almost no contribution from their likely MVP-Candidate, Justin Upton.

Following Thursday night’s win against the Padres in which Upton went 0-3, he is now 2-18 to start the season, hitting just .143 with no RBI, no home runs and 2 runs–ironically, Upton’s on-base percentage is a respectable .381 since he has walked 6 times in the 5 games he’s played in.  By now, we all know that Upton is among the best players in the game and there is little reason to worry about a 5 game slump to start the season.  The only concern with Upton is if there is any lingering effects from his jammed thumb suffered in Sunday’s game.  He missed Tuesday’s game and is a combined 0-6 since his return."

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Starting Lineups

Pittsburgh-

1. Presley, LF
2. Tabata, RF
3. McCutchen, CF
4. McGehee, 1B
5. Walker, 2B
6. Barajas, C
7. Harrison, 3B
8. Barmes, SS
9. Bedard, P

Arizona-

1. Bloomquist, SS
2. Hill, 2B
3. Upton, RF
4. Montero, C
5. Young, CF
6. Goldschmidt, 1B
7. Kubel, LF
8. Roberts, 3B
9. Saunders, P

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• Bucs are fifth in the division, sit 3.5 games back
• D'Backs have had an impressive 6-3 start to the season
• Larry Fitzgerald has turned into a Diamondback, ok maybe not literally. 

Lets Go Bucs