Gregory Polanco and Felipe Rivero are the most recent additions to a growing list of injured Pirates this season. Polanco left Sunday’s game against the Diamondbacks in the fifth inning after straining his hamstring while tracking down a fly ball in the third inning and then tweaking it in his next at-bat in the fifth.
Rivero was unavailable Sunday because of neck stiffness. Before Tuesday’s game, manager Clint Hurdle said he didn’t yet know the status of either player.
Polanco, who was out of the lineup Tuesday night, said his hamstring felt better Tuesday than it did Monday but he would need to go through warm-ups before determining his status. He said he will take it day-by-day.
Home sweet home
After playing 14 of their last 17 games on the road, the Pirates begin a home-heavy portion of their schedule Tuesday night, which starts with six games against the Nationals and Phillies.
Entering Tuesday night’s series opener against the Nationals, the Pirates had played 15 home games and 23 road games in the first month and a half of the season. Only the Padres and Mariners have played as many road games so far this season, 23 times away from home.
The Pirates are slated to play 12 of their next 16 and 22 of their next 31 games at PNC Park, where they have posted an 8-7 record on the season.
Tuesday’s game is the first of 13 in a row and 17 of 19 games against the NL East, The Pirates are 5-1 against East teams on the season.
Strasburg struggles
Although a small sample size, players on the Pirates active roster have not fared well against Stephen Strasburg, hitting a combined 6 for 42 (.142) with no extra-base hits.
Strasburg, last night’s starter for the Nationals, unsurprisingly has had success in his career against the Pirates, posting a 2.51 ERA in six career starts and recording an average of 10 strikeouts per start.
Perhaps the most memorable of those six starts was Strasburg’s first career start, which came against the Pirates on June 8, 2010. The right-handed pitcher fanned 14 Pirates over seven innings en route to his first career win.
Pirates sign Chinese pitcher
The Pirates signed right-handed pitcher Hai-Cheng Gong Tuesday as a non-drafted free agent.
The 18-year- old pitched for Team China in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, making one scoreless appearance. He is the first pitcher to sign a pro contract from the MLB Development Center in China.
He will begin his professional career with the Gulf Coast League Pirates, whose season will begin in late June.
First Published: May 17, 2017, 4:00 a.m.