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Bucs get 6th pick in Competitive Balance Round A

KANSAS CITY -- The Pirates got a positive draw on Wednesday in Major League Baseball's Competitive Balance Lottery, receiving the sixth bonus selection following the first round of next June's Draft.

The Bucs' seeding in the regular first round of the Draft will eventually be determined by their final record in 2015. But, regardless, the team will have two of the first 36 selections in the Draft.

Competitive Balance Round A

The Lottery, a negotiated feature of the current Basic Agreement between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association, involves the 10 clubs with the lowest revenues and those in the smallest markets. Clubs not receiving post-first-round selections were entered into a secondary lottery to determine six more bonus picks following the second round.

Touching all the bases
• First: Francisco Liriano, slated to open a four-game series against the Nationals on Thursday night at PNC Park, winged back to Pittsburgh hours before Wednesday night's first pitch. The rest of the club is expected to arrive back home at about 3 a.m. ET.

Video: PIT@KC: Cervelli leaves with an apparent injury

• Second: Francisco Cervelli raised his right arm to showcase the reduced swelling and increased mobility in the bruised wrist that had forced him out of Monday's game. He felt he'd be ready to resume playing on Thursday, as did manager Clint Hurdle.

"I really felt compelled to give him one more day, then he'll be fit for duty," Hurdle said.

• Third: Through Tuesday, the Buccos' bullpen was the Majors' best in stranding inherited runners: 68 of 80, or 85 percent.

• Home: Third-base coach Rick Sofield, on sending Starling Marte into the first out at home in the ninth inning of Tuesday night's 3-1 defeat: "It was brutal. My bad. But when I saw the ball bounce at the 410-foot sign and with [Lorenzo] Cain having an average arm, I'm thinking 'run' right away."

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog Change for a Nickel. He can also be found on Twitter @Tom_Singer and on his podcast.
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