Back at City Stadium for tonight’s second-half lidlifter between Myrtle Beach and Lynchburg, as the Hillcats look to avoid falling below .500 for the first time all season. They were above the mark for the entire first half. Good pitching matchup tonight as Hillcats lefty Jeff Locke takes the mound to face his former team. He spent much of the first half in Myrtle Beach before coming to Lynchburg as part of the Nate McLouth trade.

Locke’s numbers at Myrtle Beach: 1-4, 5.52 ERA, 43 strikeouts, 23 walks, 45 2/3 innings, 1.60 WHIP

His numbers in Lynchburg: 1-0, 2.57 ERA, 12 strikeouts, 4 walks, 14 innings, 1.43 WHIP

His batting average against has risen from .273 in Myrtle to .291 in Lynchburg, but the walks have gone down. He’s definitely made some adjustments in his mechanics and is pitching more to contact since the trade.

The Cats will get their first look at Pelicans lefty Cole Rohrbough, who missed a chunk of the first half with a hamstring injury. Rohrbough entered the season ranked sixth on Baseball America’s list of Atlanta’s top 30 prospects. Rohrbough earned a late promotion from Rome to Myrtle last season and made five starts for the Pelicans, going 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA with 28 Ks and eight BBs in 32 innings. He’s struggled to find a form this season and enters tonight’s matchup with a 3-4 mark and a 5.61 ERA. Four of his last five starts have been ugly, including a 2 2/3 innings disaster against Winston-Salem in which he allowed 10 earned runs. In his last four turns, his ERA has risen from 2.70 to 5.61.

Baseball America’s scouting report:

“Rohrbough has electrifying stuff with three above-average pitches at times, including the best fastball/curveball combination in the system. His fastball has good movement while residing at 92-94 mph. His power curve borders on being unhittable when it is sharp with a nasty late break. He has a tremendous feel for pitching and mixes his offerings well.“

Plenty of other topics to touch on today. Let’s get started:

—The Hillcats entered today with 22 men on the 25-man roster, meaning moves had to be made to get three more guys on the active roster. Those moves:

1. The Pirates released OF Maiko Loyola, who lost his everyday job in the outfield once Jared Keel returned from an injury. Loyola spent much of the year hovering around the Mendoza line and finished his time in Lynchburg with these numbers: .198 BA, 7 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 22 RBIs. He really struggled with runners in scoring position (.225, 1 HR, 15 RBIs in 40 ABs) and was even worse with RISP and 2 outs (1-for-16).

2. Pittsburgh assigned OF Ciro Rosero to Lynchburg from Short-Season Low-A State College. Rosero went 2-for-10 for the Spikes this season. He’ll likely be a fourth outfielder for the Cats.

3. Pittsburgh activated RP Christian Castorri from the disabled list, filling a need in the bullpen after the promotion of RPs Michael Dubee and Dustin Molleken to Double-A Altoona.

4. And finally, the Pirates promoted SS Chase d’Arnaud from Low-A West Virginia to Lynchburg.

—More on d’Arnaud, the Pirates’ fourth-round pick in 2008. He’ll hit leadoff and play short tonight for the Hillcats. Jordy Mercer will bat third and DH and Ray Chang will get the start at third tonight. I’d expect Hillcats manager P.J. Forbes to tinker with this rotation throughout the second half. Mercer and d’Arnaud both are hybrid guys who can play short and third, and there’s even some talk of trying them both at second base and giving Jose De Los Santos some time in center field. Alex Presley is by no means a fixture in center, and he can play some right field too. Eddie Prasch, who is naturally a third baseman, will get the start in right tonight.

D’Arnaud played nothing but short in Charleston and batted third in 61 of his 62 games for the Power. So batting leadoff will be a bit of an adjustment for him. He has the speed for it—17 SB, 3 CS. And Forbes loves aggressive baserunning. So he should be a good fit in that regard.

—C Kris Watts, who played in Tuesday’s California League-Carolina League All-Star game, gets the night off tonight, so Joel Collins will start at catcher.

—Worth watching Friday—former UVa and Tunstall High School standout Jacob Thompson takes the hill for Myrtle Beach. Look for a story on Thompson in Saturday’s News & Advance.

—Now one last look back at the first half statistical champions in the Carolina League:

Home runs—Cody Johnson, Myrtle Beach (20)

Batting average—Caleb Joseph, Frederick (.335)

RBI—Pedro Alvarez, Lynchburg (55)—Promoted to Double-A Altoona

Stolen bases—Derrick Robinson, Wilmington (35)

Wins—Charles Shirek, Winston-Salem (7)—Promoted to Double-A Birmingham

Saves—R.J. Rodriguez, Lynchburg (13)

Strikeouts—Brian Matusz, Frederick (75)—Promoted to Double-A Bowie

Hits—Miles Durham, Lynchburg (73)—Promoted to Double-A Altoona

Doubles—Luis Exposito, Salem (21)

On-base percentage—Kris Watts, Lynchburg (.449)

Runs—Johnny Giavotella, Wilmington (44)

Triples—Alex Presley, Lynchburg (7)

Losses—Levi Maxwell, Winston-Salem (8)—though he did throw a no-hitter ...

Walks—Ryan Morris, Kinston (38)

Shutouts—Only four in the first half—Myrtle Beach’s Erik Cordier, Potomac’s Jeff Mandel, Maxwell and Myrtle Beach’s Richard Sullivan.