Lake Bachar (0-0, 2.97) gets the ball for Miami opposite Bubba Chandler (2-7, 4.91) at 4:05 PM ET. Bachar's last outing was a 3-inning, 38-pitch piggyback look against Tampa — he's functioning as a bulk/opener type, not a true 6-inning starter, so the Marlins bullpen is going to carry real weight here. The shape of this game has flipped fast. The Marlins were a sub-.500 club a week ago and now sit at 35-35 with 5 straight wins coming into Pittsburgh, plus Friday's 8-3 stomping makes it 6. Pittsburgh is also 35-35 but stumbling — they dropped 2 of 3 to the Dodgers, got run by Miami to open this set, and the lineup is leaking pieces. The injury list is doing a lot of work for the Pirates right now. Oneil Cruz is on the 10-day IL with a hand issue, Konnor Griffin (elbow) is still throwing flat-ground, and Joey Bart is just now starting a rehab assignment at Single-A Bradenton. Take Cruz out of the middle of that order and you're asking guys to do jobs they haven't earned yet. Miami isn't exactly whole either — Eury Perez and Janson Junk are on the 15-day IL and Thomas White is reportedly done for the year with a shoulder issue — but the offense has found a gear. Back-to-back shutouts of Arizona last weekend, then 8 on Pittsburgh in the opener. Bachar going short means the matchup turns into a bullpen game by the 4th, and Miami's pen has been the one closing the door. Chandler's profile is the wild card. The Pirates' rookie has the stuff but the 4.91 ERA and 2-7 record tell you the command comes and goes. His last time out he gutted out a win in Houston — 5 innings, 4 earned, 91 pitches — and he'll need a cleaner version of that against a Marlins lineup that's seeing it. If he's behind in counts early, this gets out of hand quickly.