Pirates Make Two Lineup Changes vs. Guardians
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh made changes to their lineup ahead of their series opener vs. the Cleveland Guardians at PNC Park.
Jared Triolo will come in at third base, as Ke'Bryan Hayes will begin the game from the bench, and will hit seventh in the lineup.
This is only the third game that Hayes hasn't started at third base for the Pirates this season, with Triolo starting vs. the Miami Marlins on March 30 and Tsung-Che Cheng starting vs. the Cincinnati Reds on April 13.
Triolo is making his second start since coming back from an injury, as he initially did so at second base vs. the Washington Nationals on April 16.
He was supposed to start at shortstop vs. the Yankees in the series finale on April 6, but he got injured right before the game, with Pirates manager Derek Shelton saying postgame that Triolo's "back locked up."
Triolo went on the 10-day Injured List on April 7 with a lumbar spine strain and Cheng came up in his place.
He would field at PNC Park on April 14 and then did a one game rehab assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis on April 15 and is now back with the Pirates, as they activated him off the Injured List and sent Cheng down to Indianapolis.
Jack Suwinski will also start in left field for the Pirates, coming in for Tommy Pham. This is his fourth start in left field this season and his first since April 15 for the Nationals. He will hit sixth in the lineup.
Oneil Cruz stays in center field and will leadoff for the fourth time in the past five games. He has also homered in the past two games and will look to do so again
Bryan Reynolds continues on at right field from the third straight game, coming back from his injury, which prevented him from fielding. He'll hit second in the lineup and Andrew McCutchen will stay designated hitter and third in the lineup, also for the third straight game.
Enmanuel Valdez and Joey Bart play first base and catcher, respectively, for the second straight game, but Valdez moves up to fourth in the lineup while Bart drops down to fifth.
Adam Frazier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will play second base and shortstop, respectively, and hit eighth and ninth in the lineup for the second straight game.
Carmen Mlodzinski makes his fourth start this season, with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m.
Pittsburgh Pirates Starting Lineup vs. the Cleveland Guardians
CF Oneil Cruz
RF Bryan Reynolds
DH Andrew McCutchen
1B Enmanuel Valdez
C Joey Bart
LF Jack Suwinski
3B Jared Triolo
2B Adam Frazier
SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.