German_Force » Tuesday night depending

The Pittsburgh Pirates Jack Doyle Jersey , trying to regain a foothold in the National League Central, have settled into a four-man outfield rotation that may not be altogether comfortable.

It’s hard to say from game to game which three will start. The three who began the season — left fielder Corey Dickerson, center fielder Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco in right — started Monday in a 1-0 win over Milwaukee, but it’s possible one of them will be replaced in the second game of the series Tuesday at PNC Park with rookie Austin Meadows, who has been strong offensively and defensively since being recalled last month and has played in all three outfield spots.

A lot of the sentiment surrounding the Pirates seems to lean toward Polanco sitting more often than not. He is batting .214 and has had some lapses defensively and on the bases. But the Pirates are steadfast in playing him.

“I’ve had his back through all of this, because I believe he’s a good ballplayer and I believed the swing was going to come back out,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We’ll see. Time will tell. We can sit here and talk all day about what might happen. He’s going to get the opportunity to go out and hit. It’s going to happen or it’s not going to happen. I believe it’s going to happen.”

Polanco has been better the past two games, going 3 for 4 with a homer, two RBIs and a walk, although he stranded two runners Monday.

“It’s just a battle,” he said. “You’ve got to fight every day. You’ve got to fight. You’ve got to work. No matter how I’m doing I’m going to keep working because I worked so hard in the offseason to get my body ready. Now in the season I don’t want to stop working. I don’t care I am doing; going to keep working every day.”

A turnaround by Polanco concurrent with a Pittsburgh resurgence would certainly help. The Pirates (36-36) vied for the division lead early in the season before a month-long swoon. Monday’s win moved them back to within six games of the first-place Brewers (42-30), who have lost three straight.

Milwaukee will recall right-hander Freddy Peralta (1-0, 3.72 ERA) from Triple-A Colorado Springs and give him his third career start Tuesday Derek Newton Jersey , against Pittsburgh righty Jameson Taillon (4-5, 3.94 ERA).

In his earlier recall, Peralta, 22, made his major league debut on Mother’s Day, going 5 2/3 scoreless innings against Colorado, giving up one hit and setting a Brewers record for a debut with 13 strikeouts.

In his other start, he got a no-decision.

“It’s still exciting,” Peralta told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about his second recall. “I’ve been working hard, trying to get back here. You are fighting all the time to be where you want to be — here.”

Among his three most recent starts for Colorado Springs, Peralta took a no-hitter into the seventh and struck out 11 in six innings.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell was clear that Peralta is not penciled in for anything beyond Tuesday’s start, but allowed, “He has been on a really good roll. Every line score has looked really good. The evaluations have been really good. So he has earned it.”

Milwaukee third baseman Travis Shaw’s status is unclear. He did not play Monday because of a sore wrist he got Sunday.

Taillon Christian Jones Jersey , who is 1-3 with a 3.47 ERA in seven career starts against Milwaukee, has gone 2-5 with a 5.02 ERA over his past 11 starts. He last pitched on Wednesday when he allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings of a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

With the NHL’s regular season in its final week, the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers have differing agendas heading into Tuesday night’s clash at the Prudential Center.

While the Devils (42-28-9) zero in on clinching their first postseason berth since the 2011-12 season, the Rangers (34-36-9) play out the string, set to miss the playoffs for only the second time in 13 years.

“I think we’re excited about it,” Devils coach John Hynes said of a likely return to the playoffs next week. “But the big thing — we’ve talked about it, too — it’s about our game. Whether we’re up seven or three points (in the standings), you can’t get too wrapped up in those situations.”

Certainly, the Devils put all distractions aside during an impressive finish to the regular season. New Jersey is 5-0-1 in its last six games and 8-2-1 since March 10.

With three games left on the schedule, the Devils can clinch a playoff spot as early as Tuesday night depending on what they and the ninth-place Florida Panthers do in their respective games.

“We always say that every game is the most important game of the season,” offered Devils rookie Nico Hischier, who scored his 19th goal in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. “It’s not just me that wants it. Every single guy in here wants these wins and knows every game is two huge points.”

During the weekend, the Devils admittedly were not at their best in beating two of the league’s weaker teams — the Islanders and the Canadiens — yet they still took all four points.

Taylor Hall continued his push for Hart Trophy consideration by extending his point-scoring streak to eight games Ziggy Ansah Jersey , finishing the weekend sweep with the game-winning short-handed goal late in the third period in Montreal.

“He’s been our MVP all year long, and the best player in the league in my opinion,” teammate Brian Boyle said of Hall, who has 37 goals and 89 points this season.

There’s no playoff or MVP talk for the first time in a long time with the Rangers this year. Sabotaged by poor play and then gutted by a series of trades of key veteran players, the Rangers barely resemble the team that reached three Eastern Conference finals since 2012, not to mention the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.

Yet the Rangers played hard down the stretch with a young roster that is absent two more experienced players on Tuesday. Forwards Jesper Fast and Mats Zuccarello are both ruled out for the game — Fast with a groin injury, Zuccarello with an undisclosed injury after blocking a series of shots recently.

“We have a lot of young, talented players. It’s been fun to play with them,” Rangers alternate captain Marc Staal said. “With our situation and with what happened, there are a few older guys here, and it’s fun for us to feel the energy of the younger players, and their excitement coming to the rink.”

The Rangers, who are 2-4-2 in their last eight games Dawuane Smoot Jersey , beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 in their most recent game on Saturday. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 40 saves in the win, the seventh time this season he had that many.

“We’re just trying to finish out the season strong, playing hard, trying to play well,” Lundqvist explained. “Once we get to the offseason, then I will think about everything that happened this year.”

Tuesday marks the fourth and final meeting between the Hudson River rivals in 2017-18. The Devils are 2-1-0 against the Rangers, winning the only other game played in Newark, 4-3 in a shootout on Dec. 21.

.