Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals Live Streaming

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7:05 pm EDT Wed Jun 9, 2010

The Washington Nationals got a bright glimpse into their future Tuesday night with phenom Stephen Strasburg’s highly anticipated - and successful - debut. The Pittsburgh Pirates are hoping for a similar first step from their top pitching prospect. Three years after Tommy John surgery slowed his progress through the minors, Brad Lincoln makes his major league debut Wednesday night hoping to help the Pirates bounce back from a series-opening loss to Strasburg and the Nationals. Pittsburgh thought Lincoln was on the fast track to the majors when it made him the No. 4 overall pick of the 2006 draft, but the University of Houston star was held back by injuries almost right away. After an oblique strain limited him to 24 innings in 2006, surgery knocked Lincoln out for the 2007 season. He never looked fully recovered in 2008 and 2009, but has pitched well in Triple-A Indianapolis this season. Through 11 starts with the Indians, Lincoln was 6-2 with a 3.16 ERA, striking out 55 and walking 14 in 68 1-3 innings.

Lincoln may not be the Pirates’ only prospect to earn a call-up Wednesday. Speedy outfielder Jose Tabata, hitting .308 with 25 stolen bases in Triple-A, is expected to join Lincoln in Washington. While Lincoln ranks as Pittsburgh’s best young arm in a system thin on high-level pitching, he isn’t considered anywhere near the sure thing that Strasburg - baseball’s consensus top prospect - was heading into his major league debut Tuesday. The hard-throwing right-hander couldn’t have looked much better in his first outing, which came one day prior to the one-year anniversary of Washington making him the 2009 draft’s No. 1 pick. Strasburg didn’t issue a walk and struck out 14 - including the final seven batters he faced - in a 5-2 victory. Strasburg’s captivating debut earned him a postgame shaving cream pie in the face from John Lannan, who will try to win Wednesday for the first time in nine home starts dating to Aug. 22.