Pregame notes: Pirates' bullpen a little short tonight

Abbreviated pregame notes tonight. I spent most of my time before the game talking to Rockies' manager Walt Weiss and Todd Helton about their time working with and playing for Clint Hurdle. I'll post comments tomorrow.

Notes:

-P- After reviewing the tape of Jared Hughes' performance, Hurdle said of Hughes, "I think we saw some of the good stuff. And probably the stuff of a guy who was probably just a little excited to be back in the big leagues again. I think we're in a good place."

-P- The Rockies came into the series with their bullpen a little worn down, having used 18 pitchers in four days. Yesterday Hurdle said that the Pirates wanted to take advantage of that fact by seeing a few more pitches. Today the shoe is on the other foot, as the Pirates have used 18 pitchers the past four days. Hurdle said that he expected the Rockies to try to work the count on Francisco Liriano tonight, but not necessarily because the Pirates are a little thin at the moment. "I think with Frankie's pedigree every team wants to make him throw strikes, who are we kidding? I know St. Louis tried very hard early. We'll see how that works out," Hurdle said.

-P- Commenting on the state of his bullpen, Hurdle pointed out the long stretch of consecutive games the team has played and gave special credit to Charlie Morton for saving the team a reliever Thursday night. "We're on the back end of a 17-game stretch with a doubleheader. And we kind of pushed all the chips in the other night with Locke," Hurdle said. "That was a hard decision to make. We were fortunate to push Charlie out there for one more inning the other night. That was a big deal. Saved us a reliever."

-P- Hurdle said that Justin Wilson, Jeanmar Gomez and Hughes were unavailable tonight.

-P- Colorado manager Walt Weiss was asked if the Rockies would change their approach given that the Pirates are a little short on relievers tonight. "We'd love to get everyone's starter out of the game early," Weiss said. "But with Liriano on the mound tonight, there is probably not a lot of likelihood of that happening. He's been pretty good this season."

-P- Weiss described his bullpen as in "pretty good shape tonight."

"It wasn't last night," Weiss continued, "Chacin gave us just what the doctor ordered last night. At least we'll have some arms out there tonight (ready to go)."