• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Pirates, Marlins resume set at PNC Park

Aug 6, 2014 - 2:43 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Pittsburgh Pirates will try and get by without reigning National League MVP Andrew McCuthchen again on Wednesday when they play the middle test of a three-game series with the Miami Marlins at PNC Park.

McCutchen is dealing with a fractured left rib, though the team is hoping he can avoid a stint on the disabled list.

"(The plan is to) keep evaluating me and see how I feel right now," said McCutchen, who has never spent time on the DL in his five-year Major League career. "We don't want to make a decision yet; we don't want to put me on the DL right away, because there's a chance I could be better before 15 days are up. There's a chance."

Pittsburgh certainly could have used McCutchen in Tuesday's opener, as Jarrod Saltalamacchia worked a go-ahead, bases-loaded walk and the Marlins used a five-run eighth inning to defeat the Pirates, 6-3, in the opener of the set on Tuesday.

Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs, Giancarlo Stanton finished 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored and Adeiny Hechavarria supplied two hits and an RBI for Miami, which snapped a string of six straight losses at PNC Park.

"We certainly were able to zone it up and be patient at a time right when we needed it," said Marlins manager Mike Redmond. "We had some great at-bats."

A.J. Ramos (5-0) earned the win after retiring the final two batters in the seventh inning. Starter Brad Hand allowed two runs on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings of work.

Jordy Mercer and Chris Stewart each had two hits and an RBI and Gregory Polanco also drove in a run for the Pirates, who have dropped two in a row.

Jared Hughes (6-3) was tagged with the loss after giving up two runs -- one earned -- and a walk, while recording just one out in the eighth. Starter Charlie Morton gave up just one run on six hits and four walks with four strikeouts over seven frames.

Getting the call for the Marlins on Wednesday will be righty Tom Koehler, who is 7-8 with a 3.70 ERA. Koehler lost to Cincinnati on Thursday, as he surrendered two unearned runs and five hits over seven innings.

Koehler has lost both of his starts to the Pirates and has yielded eight runs in 10 innings of those outings.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, will hand the ball to lefty Jeff Locke, who has lost his last two starts. Locke was banged around by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday to the tune of six runs (4 earned) in 5 1/3 innings, as he fell to 2-3 on the year to go along with a 3.77 ERA.

He has allowed 12 runs (10 earned) in his last 12 innings, and his ERA has risen from 3.05 on July 20 to where it is now.

Locke is 0-2 in four starts versus the Marlins with a 3.55 ERA.

The Pirates won two of three when these teams met up in Miami from June 13-15.