Category: sports

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Pirates Morning Report: What A Difference A Day Makes

Final Score: Pirates 5 Nationals 1

Why The Pirates Won: This was a pitching win. If the Pirates pitching does not shut down the Nationals, this could have been known as the game that got away. The Pirate batters were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and wound-up stranding 15 runners. If the Nationals had been able to generate any offense, this game could have been a disaster. All is forgiven when you win. Josh Palacios hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd to get things going for the Pirates. Naturally, the Pirate broadcast booth was effusive with praise for Palacios making him sound like he was the 2nd coming of Dave Parker. Here is his slash line, .224/.269/.409 for an OPS+ of 80 and a WAR of -0.4. If this guy is playing next year, it will be another wasted season. He might make an acceptable utility/bench guy but even that is really stretching it. I will give him, that he has had some big hits this year, but it is not enough to think that he would be a major part of a playoff contending team. The Pirates were able scratch out 3 more runs with 2 of the runs scoring on outs. This was a night for the pitchers. Baily (Last Night Was Not My) Falter pitched a solid 6 innings giving up only 1 run on 4 hits, walking 1, striking out 4. The bullpen gave up no runs the rest of the way with only Mlodzinski having a shaky inning, being bailed out by a strong throw by Josh Palacios to nail a runner at the plate. I know there he is again, but he still stinks. It was a nice bounce back win by the Pirates, but they need to keep the momentum going.

Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the 4th with the score 2-0 Pirates, Falter had his only shaky inning. After getting a routine ground ball out, he served up a hanging 85 MPH slider to Lane Thomas who drilled it 108 MPH to left field. Bryan Reynolds made a great over the shoulder catch that as it turned out saved at least 1 run. The Nationals got some 2 out lightening going with a single, double, single, to score their run. The last 2 hits were drilled well over a 100 MPH. The single was hit so hard that even with 2 outs the runner could not score from 2nd base. The final out was recorded on another hard hit ball on the ground that Ke’ Bryan Hayes made a nice play to force the runner at second that ended the inning. From that point on Falter retired the final 6 batter he faced.

Next Game: Tonight, the Nationals in Pittsburgh. Even though it does not say this on the Pirate “official” website, that gets updated about every 3 days, I believe that Quinn Priester is going to start tonight. Let’s hope that he can get off the run an inning schneid. The Pirates stand at 67 wins. They will have to win 8 of their last 17 games to get to the 75 win mark which would be a 13 game improvement from last year. They need to win as many games at home as possible because they have a tough 9 game road trip coming up. Can Derek Shelton inspire this team? Hell no, they will have to do it themselves.

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Pirates Morning Report: Base Running 101

Final Score: Pirates 2 Nationals 6

Why The Pirates Lost: This one is easy. They couldn’t pitch, they couldn’t hit, they couldn’t field, and they couldn’t run the bases. But enough of the Pirates, the Nationals put on quite a display on the bases themselves. First, Keibert Ruiz singled to right field and then had designs of stretching it into a double. He put on the brakes about 30 feet from the bag and tried to get back to first but was out by a mile. Later in the game, Dominic Smith hits a ball off the wall in right center field, that if you heard Greg Brown tell it, Josh Palacios bobbled the ball on purpose. Smith, who runs a 7 sec. 40-yard dash, saw this and tried to go third. He was thrown out at third by a mile. The Pirates not to be out done, had runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs and the score was 2-1 Nationals in the bottom of the third. Then Connor Joe got picked off first and Bryan Reynolds tried to score and was thrown out easily. Greg Brown thought this was not a planned play. The Pirate pitching stunk as any pitcher who pitched more than 1 inning gave up a home run. We’re not going to mention any names here just to have some respect for their families and any children they might be involved. The Pirate bats were just as bad. They could only muster 2 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, while striking out 10 times. Then there was the double play that wasn’t. Luis Garcia hit a ground ball to 2nd that Liover Peguero fed perfectly to Alika Williams to start what would have been an inning ending double play. Instead of setting himself and throwing a hard strike to first base, he came flying across the bag, half stumbling, throwing weakly to 1st enabling the lumbering 6’2″ 220 lb. Garcia to beat it out, allowing the 4th run to score.

Key Moment Of The Game. The score was 6-1. going into the bottom of the 7th and the Pirates could only scrape together 1 run on 2 doubles and a walk. It was simply their last chance to get back in the game and they could not get the big hit. Other than the home runs that were given up, all the runs the Nationals scored and all the runs the Pirates did not score could all be attributed to a lack of baseball sense by the Pirates. Coaches, where are you? Who knows, only The Shadow knows.

Next Game: Tonight, the Nationals in Pittsburgh. A very disappointing start to the homestand. It was not so much about the loss, as it was on just how badly the Pirates played. Hopefully this was nothing more than a glitch, with the Pirates righting the ship tonight. The Pirates have not announced a pitcher. 75 wins is in jeopardy.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Tried But Just Couldn’t Do It

Final Score: Pirates 2 Braves 5

Why The Pirates Lost: This was a bullpen failure. In 2 and 2/3 innings they gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. This erased a very good performance by Luis Ortiz. He pitched 5 and 1/3 innings giving up just 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks. He did not strike out anyone and the Pirates did play very good defense behind him snagging some very hard hit balls. Regardless, he kept the best offense in baseball in check. He had only thrown 72 pitches when the Shadow decided to take him out. A little surprising considering the bullpen must have been strapped, because he used Singles and Homers, I mean Selby and Hatch, to try and finish the game. He might as well used Starsky and Hutch as good as they were. The Pirate offense could not do much, scoring 2 runs on 7 hits, striking out 11 times, while not drawing a walk the entire game. The bottom third of the order went 0 for 10. It was a good tight competitive game, but the Pirates lack of pitching depth just caught up with them.

The Key Moment Of The Game. The Braves scored 1 run in the bottom of the 6th after the Pirates had scored 2 in the top of the inning. With the score 2-1 Pirates going into the top of the 7th, Josh (I Will Be Here Next Year Despite What You Say) Palacios led off the inning with a booming triple. The bottom third of the order failed miserably and could not get him in. In the bottom of the 7th the Braves broke open the game against the B squad and the game was over. Naturally, a walk was involved.

Next Game: Tonight, the Nationals in Pittsburgh. The Pirates start a 7 game homestand against the Nationals and the Yankees. If the Pirates are going to reach the mid 70’s in wins it is critical that they have good homestand, with at least a 5 and 2 record. After that they go on a 9 game road trip where they will be playing all contenders, the Cubs, Reds, and Phillies. As usual, who is going to take the mound is a mystery. Only The Shadow knows.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Quick Humane Death

Final Score: Pirates 2 Braves 8

Why The Pirates Lost: They are playing the Atlanta Braves. In fairness to the Mitch Keller, even though his stats looked bad, in the bottom of 3rd, the Braves had 6 singles and 4 of them were under 80 MPH. The other 2 were 83 and 94 MPH. It is bad enough you are playing the team in the National League with the best record, but then they get a bunch of soft serve hits that result in 4 runs. In the bottom of the fourth they did hit some rockets including a 2-run homer to score 3 more runs. The only good thing, that despite a combined 10 runs, 18 strikeouts and 3 walks, the game only took 2 hours and 14 minutes to play. It was a humane slaughter by the Braves. The Pirate offense was about as ineffective as you could get. In the first and third innings, they had a runner on 2nd with no one out and failed to score. Jack Suwinski did hit a 2-run homer for the Pirates scoring, but they were only able to manage 5 other hits for the game. Overall, just an expected beating with 2 more to come.

Key Moment Of The Game: When Pirates plane touched down in Atlanta. The Pirates could not take advantage of the early scoring opportunities and the Braves fortunate 3rd inning set the tone for the game. I know this is only one game, but it shows how far the Pirates have to go before they can really contend for a championship. It was nice to see how the game should be played even though it was an opponent of the Pirates and not the Pirates.

Next Slaughter: Tonight, Braves in Atlanta. Johan Oviedo takes the mound tonight and if he thinks he was uncomfortable in his last outing, wait until he faces this lineup. He may not be able to move. The Pirates are facing Dylan Dodd, who has an ERA of over 7 through 5 games but has a record of 2-1. Maybe the Pirates can out hit the Braves tonight. I apologize for writing that.

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Pirates Morning Report: It Was Just One Of Those Innings

Final Score: Pirates 3 Brewers 7

Why The Pirates Lost: You knew that this was not going to be the Pirates night when Greg Brown talking about the red hot Ke’Bryan Hayes, said he hit the 2-run homer to tie the game the night before. Brown at least knew that Hayes hit a homer, but it was Jack Suwinski that hit the 2-run homer to tie the game. Hayes’s home run was a solo homer that gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead. I imagine that Brown needs GPS to find his way home. From there you knew the day was going downhill. Andre Jackson started for the Pirates and despite what the broadcast booth said, if this guy is in the starting rotation next year, the Pirates are in big trouble. I think he can be a tremendous asset out of the bullpen. Last night, Jackson went 4 and 1/3 innings giving up 6 runs on just 3 hits, but he walked 5. This after pitching a perfect 3 innings. The Pirates offense was completely stifled by Brandon Woodruff getting only 2 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings. Woodruff threw 97 pitches and finished strong by striking out the final 2 batters he faced. Thanks to Greg Brown it was the Brewers night.

Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the 4th Jackson walked the bases loaded with no one out. He escaped with only 1 run scoring, and you felt that this game had the feel of the previous game, when the Brewers failed to capitalize on the situation. However, in the top of the 5th, things went in the other direction, big time. Jackson opened the inning by issuing his 4th walk. Andruw Monasterio hit a triple in the left center field notch to make the score 2-0 Brewers. From this moment on, everything went the Brewers way. A little dribbler down the third base line, a bloop just between the 1st and 2nd basemen, and finally a deep fly ball to center field that Suwinski lost in the twilight sky for a double. There was a sacrifice fly and walk sandwiched between all of this, giving the Brewers a 5-0 lead. The scoring mercifully ended on an 81 MPH single to left field by Mark Canha that was booted by Josh Palacios to allow the final run to score. It was 7-0 and the game was over. Connor Joe hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th to make the final 7-3.

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. Again, the Pirates do not know who the starting pitcher is. It would be a nice win today considering that they are heading to Atlanta to get the crap beat out of them this weekend. Their only hope is that Atlanta may already be in some kind of rest mode to get ready for the playoffs. They do have a 6 game lead on the Dodgers for the best record in the National League. Maybe the The Shadow Shelton has some really close friends in Atlanta, and they will let Pirates win one game.

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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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Pirates Morning Report: Getting The Sweep

Final Score: Pirates 4 Royals 1

Why The Pirates Won: A strong start by Andre Jackson going 5 and 2/3 innings giving up only 1 run, 2 hits, walking 2, while striking out 7. It looked like that he would strike out everybody starting out by striking out the first 5 batters he faced, then 2 more in the third. The bullpen had one of their better outings pitching a scoreless 3 and 1/3 innings giving up 2 hits, walking only 1. The Pirate offense made the most of their 6 hits getting 5 of them in the first three innings. There were a lot of collars worn last night as 5 Pirates failed to get a hit. The home run ball helped with Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski hitting solo homers. This is a nice three game win streak the Pirates have put together. We will see if they can continue in St. Louis.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates scored a run in the top of the first on the Reynolds’ home run. They opened the 2nd with a bang. Back to back doubles by Liover Peguero and of all people Vinny Capra, followed by a Suwinski single giving the Pirates a quick 3-0 lead. Capra was playing third base on a “scheduled” day off for Ke’Bryan Hayes. The Pirates hottest hitter by far had to have a day off. Wouldn’t it have been nice if they had unscheduled his day off. By the way, don’t look now but the Pirates do not play today. I think that management was just trying to give the Royals a chance and Capra really messed that up. The Pirate bats went really quiet the rest of the way getting only 2 more hits. Fortunately, one of them was the 7th inning homer by Suwinski to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead.

Next Game: Tomorrow, Cardinals in St. Louis. The sweep of the Royals put a kink in management’s plans to make another run at getting the No. 1 pick in the draft. Mitch Keller is starting for the Pirates in St. Louis so there is a least a half way chance the Pirates might make it 4 in row. Although it looks like McCutchen, Suwinski, Rodriguez, and Peguero have a scheduled day off. I can guarantee you the Alika Williams and Josh Palacios will be in the lineup with their On Base Average of .284 and .258 respectively. Management does not give up easily.

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Pirates Morning Report: Strange Winning Pattern

Final Score: Pirates 6 Royals 3

Why The Pirates Won: For the fourth game in about the last 10 days the Pirates started a game by not getting a man on base for an extended period. They have gone 5 and 1/3, 6 and 1/3, 3 and 1/3 and last night went 4 innings before getting a man on base. What is interesting is they won 3 of those 4 games. In this game they went into the 8th inning trailing 1-0. They were able to score 2 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th to win going away. The Pirates had an opener game with Colin Selby starting and going a perfect 2 innings. Luis Ortiz pitched his best 5 innings in a long time giving up just 1 run on 3 hits, 2 walks, while striking out 5. Colin Holderman pitched a clean 8th, with Cody Bolton finishing the game despite the fact that Greg Brown wanted to waste David Bednar and bring him in with the score 6-3. Doesn’t he realize we are playing the Royals, probably not.

Key Moment Of The Game: Key moment brought to you by Ke’Bryan Hayes. It doesn’t get more key than a 2 run, 2 out, home run in the top of the 8th inning, when trailing 1-0. The Pirates added on nicely in the 9th with a 3 run rocket by Liover Peguero that even Greg Brown knew was a home run right away. This proved to be the margin of victory as the Royals did add 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th.

Next Game: Tonight, Royals in Kansas City. Can the Pirates sweep the lowly Royals. They are sending Andre Jackson to the mound. If he pitches well, it will be interesting to see how high the Pirates let his pitch count get. He should be stretched out pretty well by now. The Pirates have an off day tomorrow. It will be a much better off day if they can win their third in a row.