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Rib-cage discomfort sidelines Marte

PITTSBURGH -- Starling Marte's hopes of building on his first career four-hit game were spoiled a couple of hours prior to the start of Thursday night's game, when he was a late scratch from the Pirates lineup due to discomfort in his left rib-cage area.

Alex Presley replaced Marte both in left field and in the leadoff spot. Officially, Marte's condition was listed by the club as day to day.

Marte went 4-for-5 in the Bucs' 12-8 victory Wednesday night, jacking his average 10 points, to .289.

It was an overall historic performance for Marte, who also scored four runs and stole two bases.

He became the first leadoff hitter for the Pirates since 1916 to put together that offensive line and the third to do it regardless of batting order position. The others were Adrian Brown on June 11, 2000, and Andrew McCutchen on May 14, 2010.

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. Steven Petrella is an associate reporter for MLB.com.
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