The Pirates’ lineup got a little lighter Monday, with both Ryan Doumit and Steve Pearce joining Pedro Alvarez (quad) on the disabled list.
Doumit suffered a sprained left ankle when Carlos Pena slid into him at home plate in Sunday’s game aganist the Cubs.
Pearce, who had been getting most of the starts at third base with Alvarez on the shelf, left Saturday’s game with a sore calf.
When the Pirates chose not to replace Pearce before Sunday’s game, they were left with no real alternative but to bat Brandon Wood and Ronny Cedeno with the tying run on base in the ninth inning Sunday against Cubs closer Carlos Marmol. Of course, they ended up losing that one. The miracle of the game was that Wood actually hit a weak groundout instead of striking out.
With Doumit out, the Pirates will turn to Dusty Brown as the backup catcher. Chris Snyder will get more playing time behind the plate.
Pearce’s replacement on the roster is infielder Josh Harrison. A 5-foot-8 utilityman, he’ll make his major league debut after hitting .321/.361/.455 in 134 at-bats for Triple-A Indianapolis.