Gameday 3 - Phillies

Pirates (1-1) vs Phillies (1-1)

1:35 PM ET

TV: ROOT Sports

PNC Park- Pittsburgh, PA

Starting Pitchers

Pittsburgh- James McDonald (0-0)

Philadelphia- Vance Worley (0-0)

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Happy Easter!!

The Pirates look to win their first series of the year in today's rubber match against the Phillies. The Pirates evened the series last night in dramatic fashion, on a walk-off infield single by Alex Presley. Now that they have faced the two headed monster of Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee and escaped with one win, the Pirates will face Vance Worley. Worley is slotted as the Phillies 4th pitcher in the rotation, but he is pitching today because they want Cole Hamels pitching on their Home Opener. Current Pirates have not seen much of Worley, having hit a combined 5 for 14. The Pirates hope to get more from their bats today after scraping out just 8 hits in 2 games.

Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton suffered injuries last season, but Worley picked up the slack. He finished third in NL Rookie of the Year Award voting, proving to be a valuable piece of the rotation. He finished last season with a record of 11-3 and an ERA just over 3.

None of the Pirates are as glad for Spring Training to be over than James McDonald, who gets to push the reset button after a shaky month of March. He won't miss injured All-Stars Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, who have a combined .555 average against him. McDonald finished last season 9-9 with an ERA of 4.21.

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Know the Enemy- The Good Phight

What they've got to say about last night:

"Rod Barajas facing Joe Blanton in a tie game to lead off the 10th in retrospect was probably bound to happen exactly in the way that it happened. The only twist tonight was that his shot missed being a walk-off home run by 6 inches or so, so we had to twist through another four batters before Alex Presley slapped a ground ball to the left side that was out of the reach of Polanco, fielded by Rollins, and then was just a tick late to Ty Wigginton's glove. Ballgame."

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Starting Lineups:

Pittsburgh-

1. Presley LF

2. Tabata RF

3. McCutchen CF

4. Walker 2B

5. Jones 1B

6. Barmes SS

7. Alvarez 3B

8. McKenry C

9. McDonald P

Philadelphia-
1. Pierre LF
2. Victorino CF
3. Rollins SS
4. Pence RF
5. Thome 1B
6. Wigginton 3B
7. Galvis 2B
8. Schneider C
9. Worley P

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Promotion:

Kids Pirate Parrot Build-A-Bear Doll

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The Pirates can win their first series of the season, against a World Series-contender in the Phillies.  In the words of Clint Hurdle, Finish.

Lets Go Bucs