Joe Musgrove, like most starting pitchers, is a creature of habit.
He likes to follow the same routine between every start. The right-hander also admittedly gets out of sorts if he thrown off his schedule.
With that in mind, it would have been perfectly understandable if Musgrove felt ill at ease going into his outing Friday night. He had gone seven days since his last start and was limited to only one weightlifting session during that period because of a strained neck.
However, Musgrove certainly didn’t look uncomfortable, allowing only one run in seven innings as the Pirates edged the Padres 2-1 in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park.