Month: September 2023

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Pirates Morning Report: Not Bottom Fodder This Time

Final Score: Pirates 4 Brewers 2

Why The Pirates Won: Luis Ortiz pitched a solid 6 innings giving up 2 runs, 5 hits, walking 3, while striking out 5. He danced through the raindrops in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings but then seemed to get stronger in the 5th and 6th. I was a little surprised he was taken out after 6 innings with a pitch count of 84. The bullpen came through, although Carmen Mlodzinski had a shaky 7th inning but got out of it. After that Holderman and Bednar shut them down without a hit. Greg Brown thought that this was Holderman’s most dominant performance of the year. I guess he forgot about his immaculate inning earlier this season. Not surprising when you consider announcing baseball games is just a side gig for him. The offense did just enough against one of the better pitchers in baseball scoring 2 runs in two consecutive innings with a 2 run home run by Jack Suwinski and in the next inning, a solo blast by Ke’Bryan (Please Don’t Rest Me Again) Hayes, followed by back-to-back doubles by Reynolds and McCutchen. All this happened after 2 were out. It was a nice win against the division leaders.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the 2nd in Ortiz got into a big jam all of his own doing. He walked two and hit a batter to load the bases with no outs. The next 2 batters for the Brewers swung at the first pitch each and hit back to back sacrifice flies. Both pitches even though they were strikes were not that good of pitches to hit. Instead of having a big inning the Brewers only scored the 2 runs. They had chances in the 3rd and 4th but could not capitalize and from the 5th inning on were pretty much mowed down

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Pittsburgh. I don’t know why Mitch Keller is not pitching. Probably some dumb idea of limiting his innings. Regardless the Pirates have a chance of taking 2 out of 3 from the Brewers

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Pirates Morning Report: Defining Inconsistency

Final Score: Pirates 4 Cardinals 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Johan Oviedo had an extremely poor performance. Oviedo said he felt “uncomfortable” on the mound. He would not get into specifics, but my suggestion would be to get an enema before the game or skip lunch. In 3 and 2/3 innings he threw 97 pitches, 49 of them for balls, walked 6, gave up 4 hits, struck out 2, and was charged with 5 runs. I think I was more uncomfortable watching such a debacle. The bullpen gave up just 1 run over the last 4 and 1/3 innings but they walked 3 making the grand total 9. The offense tried but couldn’t overcome the lead, scoring only 4 runs. Ke’Bryan Hayes showed how important it is to rest a player by going 2 or 13 for the series and neither hit left the infield. It’s called taking a red-hot player and turning him ice cold. Miguel Andujar had a nice game going 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI’s. The Pirates have him scheduled for a rest day sometime this week. He must have paid Greg Brown to sing his praises, too. I fully expect like a few of his broadcast buddies, that Greg Brown will become the Pirates manager. It was disappointing to see the brief 5-game winning streak come to an end, but it was a good road trip for the young Buccos.

Key Moment Of The Game: Despite all his problems, Oviedo had managed to wiggle off the hook most of the time, and when he left the game, the score was tied 3-3 with the bases loaded and 2 outs. The Cardinals had loaded the bases on 2 walks and an error. In came Ryan Borucki to pitch to the left-hand hitting Alec Burleson with his .166 batting average against left hand pitching. Borucki must have thought that this meant you could just throw the ball right down the middle with no movement because that’s what he did on the first pitch. Unlike a typical Pittsburgh Pirate, Burleson actually swung at the ball and laced it right back up the middle at 102 MPH, giving the Cardinals a 5-3 lead that they never relinquished.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates open a brief 3 game homestand against the Milwaukee Brewers. It would be nice to see them win 2 out of 3 from the Brewers to keep some momentum going. The season is winding down with 25 games left. The Pirates have 13 home games and 12 road games. Hopefully the Pirates can figure out who is going to pitch but I am not optimistic. They are probably too busy scheduling rest days.

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Pirates Morning Report: Exciting 5th Win A Row

Final Score: Pirates 7 Cardinals 6

Why The Pirates Won: This time it was the Pirates bats that kept battling back from 3-0, 4-3, and 6-5 deficits, to pull out their 5th win in a row. The bats came alive for 7 runs on 11 hits, 5 walks, and a hit batsman. Every time the pitching staff gave up the lead the Pirate offense was able to take it back. The Pirates went with the opener, and they pretty much got rocked in the early going, although Bailey (It Was My) Falter did not pitch too bad giving up a solo home run, for the only hit in 3 and 2/3 innings. The backend of the bullpen, the “killer B’s”, Borucki, Bolton and Bednar shut down the Cardinals the rest of the way but not without some super tense moments. This was one of the most exciting games of the year, made even better by the fact that the Pirates pulled it out in the top of the 9th inning.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The 9th inning was quite a finish. In the top of the ninth Josh (I AM Not Going To Take Back About What I Wrote About Him) Palacios had another big moment for the Pirates. After McCutchen got hit by a pitch Palacios was called on to pinch hit for Connor Joe. On a 3-1 pitch, he took a low inside the plate fastball and drilled it over the fence for a home run, giving the Pirates a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the 9th David Bednar made it interesting and almost gave his Dad a stroke. In four pitches, he gave up a single and hit a batter. The Cardinals did us a favor and sacrificed the runners over to 2nd and 3rd. It is a good thing that Endy Rodriguez was catching, or the Cardinals may have had the bases loaded, if lead ass Delay had been behind the plate. Bednar and Lars Nootbaar went to battle. On a 10 pitch at bat, where the 4th pitch was ball 3, Bednar threw a beautiful 97 MPH fastball that caught the inside part of the plate above the knees for a called third strike. That left Paul Goldschmidt to face with 2 outs. This was a 9 pitch battle with Goldschmidt grounding out to short to end the game. One final note, Endy Rodriguez made numerous blocks during these combined 19 pitch at bats. A great 5th win a row.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals in St. Louis. Can the Pirates make it 6 in a row? At least they will have a starting pitcher going today with Johan Oviedo taking the mound. Regardless of what happens today the Pirates have had a very nice road trip, indeed. We will probably see the B team out there today and Bednar will probably not be available. In case no one’s noticed, Ke’Bryan Hayes has been 1 for 9 and that was an infield hit, since his scheduled day off. Another bone head move by management.

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Pirates Morning Report: Takes Overtime To Get 4 In A Row

Final Score: Pirates 4 Cardinals 1 10 innings

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate pitching staff has come alive. It could just be the competition, but for a staff that gave up 10 runs 2 games in a row, these last 4 games have been impressive. The Pirates have given up 0, 1, 1, and 1 run per 9 innings during the 4 game winning streak. Last night it was Mitch Keller who pitched a solid 6 innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits. His only negative was control issues walking 3 but did strike out 8. The bullpen only gave up the phantom run in the 10th while limiting the Cardinals to 1 hit and a walk. The Pirate offense was just as weak only getting 1 run on 4 hits in the first 9 innings. In the 10th, the Pirates showed what winning streaks are made of by scoring all three runs without getting a hit out of the infield. Bryan Reynolds hit a sacrifice fly to knock in the 3rd run and it was the only ball that left the infield. It doesn’t hurt to have a little luck to get the 4th win a row.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the 3rd with the Pirates leading 1-0, the Cardinals opened the inning with 2 quick singles on 5 pitches. Lars Nootbaar hit a line drive that Ke’Bryan Hayes leaped up and grabbed. This would be the first of 3 line drives that Hayes would snare in the game. Paul Goldschmidt struck out. Nolan Gorman hit a little bloop that was banged out at 67 MPH to center field, that Liover Peguero made a spectacular over the shoulder catch that most likely saved 2 runs, since there were 2 outs. I doubt that Josh Van Meter would have made the play. Keller gave up the home run in the 6th that tied the game, but if Peguero does not make that play the Pirates lose.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. It looks like the Pirates are going the opener route again, as they seek their fifth win in a row. I don’t know who will follow up. maybe Ortiz, but I do know it won’t be Bido. It is nice to see the team get a little momentum even though it has been against the bottom fodder, but that bottom fodder beat the Red Sox last night 13-2. You still have to play the games. Let’s hope the offense perks up a little tonight. The Pirates go for one for thumb!

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Feeling Great

Daily writing prompt
How are you feeling right now?
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Feeling great. Normal aches and pains for a 73 year old but nothing major. Able to walk 3 to 5 miles per day and golf 4 to 6 times a week. I used to jog but a bum ankle keeps me from doing that. Mentally feeling good, by keeping busy, exploring new ideas and just enjoying retirement. This is morning and I am a morning person so looking forward to a good day. I really do not know how I could feel any better. Thank you very much.