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Pirates pack for short trip

PITTSBURGH — Right in the middle of the current homestand, the Pirates have a road game.

Their series with the St. Louis Cardinals will conclude this evening in Williamsport, in the first Little League Classic game.

The Pirates will board buses at PNC Park at 8:45 this morning for a 9:45 flight. The team is scheduled to get back to Pittsburgh at 12:40 Monday morning. They open a four-game series against the National League-leading Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday evening.

It’s a long day, with a 7:05 p.m. game played in a 3,500-seat minor league ballpark. It’s important not to get to distracted by the unusual circumstances and environment.

“It’s a game that counts,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “This isn’t an exhibition game.”

The event was cooked up by Major League Baseball in an effort to connect with youth baseball. The teams will wear special uniforms that have the players’ nicknames on the back.

Little League players will also be involved in a number of events, while the Pirates and Cardinals participate in some ceremonies during the afternoon.

If the Pirates and Cardinals players are not on board with the inconvenience, that’s OK, too.

“I can understand different points of view,” Hurdle said. “This is out of our norm to travel same day, play, travel back at night and play the next night. It’s a different routine. I’m not playing. I’m older, so I’m going to enjoy it. I enjoy every day.

I’m going to enjoy the opportunity to go there. ”

Hurdle managed the New York Mets’ Eastern League team in Williamsport in 1991.

Hello, goodbye

The Pirates recalled left-hander Steven Brault on Friday with the idea of keeping him in the major leagues for the rest of the season.

He was on his way back to Class AAA Indianapolis on Saturday.

The issue was the four innings Brault had to pitch for the Pirates on Friday after starter Trevor Williams was knocked out early. That work made him unavailable for the next three days.

The Pirates needed to get a fresh arm and recalled right-hander Dovydaus Neverauskas for the fourth time this season.

“We didn’t have a length option for today,” Hurdle said. “This isn’t the way we drew it up when we recalled Steven. This wasn’t part of the plan 48 hours ago. Now it is the plan. We needed a guy who could come in and give us multiple innings.”

The rest of the Pirates relievers are essentially limited to one inning. Hurdle always likes to have an option who can pitch several innings in case the starter leaves early because of ineffectiveness or injury.

Neverauskas, 24, has gone 1-0 with a 3.00 earned run average in his previous appearances for the Pirates. He has walked one and struck out seven in nine innings. He made his major league debut against Chicago on April 24, becoming the first Lithuanian-born major league player.

In 38 games with Indianapolis this season, Neverauskas has 12 saves and a 2.77 ERA.

New pitcher?

Hurdle said he was one batter away from having utility player Sean Rodriguez pitch in the ninth inning of Thursday’s game.

Wade LeBlanc was able to escape the inning after allowing four runs.

Occasionally a manager will use a position player to pitch the end of a game that’s out of hand. Josh Harrison pitched in a 2013 game, retiring the only batter he faced.

It can be a tough call for a manager. For one thing, it raises a surrender flag that can alienate fans. Then the manager has to be careful to choose a player who doesn’t try to overdo things with a rare appearance on the mound.

Hurdle said he would not consider using Jordy Mercer, who pitched in college.

“(Rodriguez) is not going to try to throw 100,” Hurdle said. “Do you want your everyday shortstop pitching in a game? Absolutely not.”

Mehno can be reached at johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com

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