Category: sports

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played Stonecrest Score 78 Greens in Reg. 10 Putts 34

The Good: Driving was good, and I hit some of my best iron shots of the year. The weather was perfect. Played the last 13 holes 3 over par.

The Bad: For a score that was not too bad, there was a lot. Putting topped the list with 34 putts and one 3 putt green. My short game was bad as I got it up and down only 2 times out of 8 missed green. Even though my driving was good at times, I hit some really bad drives especially at the start of the round. Got off to a bad start by bogeying the 4 of the first five holes. Definitely had more yip issues today than most.

The Luck Of The Round: The luck was pretty good this day other than on the greens. I was always able to find a window to play up the fairway when I was in the wood. I hit one tree and came back in play. Never really had any bad luck.

Next Round: Tomorrow, South Park

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Pirates Morning Report: Taking The Ace Out

Final Score: Pirates 3 Diamondbacks 4

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirate bats put together one good inning and it was not enough. The 3 run bottom of the 3rd saw the Pirates get 2 hits and 2 walks to score their 3 runs. Over the next 6 innings, the Pirates got 3 hits and one walk and failed to score. Mitch Keller was not as sharp as he was the last 2 games but pitched well giving up 2 runs on 3hits and striking out 8 in 6 innings of work. After 2 were out in the top of the 6th, Keller hit a batter then gave up 2 infield hits, but a double steal by the Diamondbacks enabled them to score their 2nd run of the game. The Pirates did not score in the bottom of the 6th and the score was 3-2 Pirates going into the 7th inning.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates did not let Keller come out for the 7th inning. He had only thrown 84 pitches. It was a bit of bad luck that the Diamondbacks had scored the run in the previous inning. This guy is supposed to be your ace. They made the excuse that he did not look good pitching out of the stretch. Well, he wouldn’t have been pitching out of the stretch to start the 7th inning beard breath. No problem with the bullpen being up and warming as he started the inning. If he gave up a hit or walked a batter, then you could always take him out. He had given up a home run in the 1st, but then retired the next 16 batters in a row. He had hit a batter but did not walk anyone. You’re taking out “The Man”. Next time, why don’t you just pinch hit for Bryan Reynolds late in the game with runners in scoring position. It makes about as much sense. Or better yet, send up a pitcher to bat for Austin Hedges. Wait a minute, that does make sense. This loss is squarely on Derek Shelton’s shoulders and the Pirates fall to 24-21 right into 2nd place.

The Next Game: This afternoon, Diamondbacks in Pittsburgh. Thanks to “The Shadow” this turns out to be the rubber match. Roansy Contreras takes the mound and should build on a pretty good last outing. The Pirates will be facing Merril Kelly, the third pitcher in 4 games with an ERA under 3. If recent history is any indication, then this is just what the doctor ordered for those Pirate bats.

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Pirates Morning Report: Another Hot Starter Crushed

Final Score: Pirates 13 Diamondbacks 3

Why The Pirates Won: For the second straight game the Pirates faced a hot pitcher and sent him packing in less than 5 innings. This time it was Zac Gallen, who had not lost a game since the opener in March., The Pirates simply racked him up for 8 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks, in 3 and 2/3 innings. They added 5 more runs against the bullpen to win going away. There were lots of players who got into the act. Bryan Reynolds hit his first home run in about 6 weeks and drove in 4 runs. McCutchen, Bae, and Hayes all had 3 hits. No one had a bigger game than Josh Palacios, who had 3 hits, a walk and drove in 3 runs, including the 2 that gave the Pirates a 3-1 lead. He plays because the Pirates refuse to play Rodolfo Castro against right handed pitching. This is the first productive game a Castro replacement has had for a long time. Maybe, this will give Palacios a confidence boost and he will start hitting. Johan Oviedo pitched a solid 6 innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits, walking 3 and striking out 7 batters. DUJ came in to start the 7th but developed forearm tightness and had to leave the game after giving up 2 runs in 1/3 of an inning. The rest of the bullpen shut the Diamondbacks down. Another impressive win for the Pirates to send them to 24-20.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates big 7 run inning in the bottom of the 4th was extended on an error by the Diamondbacks third baseman. The Pirates scored 5 more runs after the error to essentially sew up the game.

Next Game: Late this afternoon, Diamondbacks, in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller takes the hill for the Pirates this afternoon, against Brandon Pfaadt who is making is 4th Major League start. He has not gone past the 5th inning in the first 3 but did pitch well in his last outing against the Giants, giving up only 1 run in 5 innings. The Pirates need to keep the momentum going since we are going with our best pitcher at the moment in Mitch Keller. The bats need to stay hot, so we can put it to the Diamondbacks for the 2nd straight game.

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Pirates Morning Report: It Never Fails

Final Score: Pirates 8 Tigers 0

Why The Pirates Won: This looked like a mismatch from the start, and it was with the Pirates winning 8-0. However, it looked like a mismatch for the Tigers. They had one of the hottest starting pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez taking the mound against the historic hitless wonders of the last 2 weeks, the Pittsburgh Pirates. So, what happens? The Pirates light him up for 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in just 5 innings. For the rest of the game the Pirates added 4 more runs on 8 hits to break out of their slump and finish with the miraculous 2-3 road trip and move to 23-20 for the season. They did all of this with Ke’Bryan (Why Do You Think I’m A Lead Off Hitter) Hayes hanging an 0 for 5 collar at the top of the order. Meanwhile the only loud hits the Tigers could muster off Rich Hill were foul balls. Over 6 innings Hill only gave up one cheap off the glove hit, striking out 7 and walking 2, for his best outing of the season by far. In fact, that would be the only hit of the game for the Tigers, as the Pirate bullpen shut down the Tigers over the last 3 innings striking out another 7 batters. The Pirates came that close to pitching a combined no hitter. It was a surprising, but much needed blowout win for the Pirates.

Key Moment Of The Game: The 2nd inning had the look of another Pirate offensive failure. Connor Joe led off with a single. The Pirates caught a break on an 8 pitch walk to Rodolfo Castro when the 7th pitch was called a ball, that looked like it was well in the strike zone. Then the Pirates went back to normal. Ji Hwan Bae laid down a horrible bunt that forced the runner out at third. Chris (Look I’M Only A Triple A Player) Owings takes a called third strike for the 2nd out. Coming to the plate with his .150 average is Austin Hedges. Time to see what’s in the refrigerator. As I start to get out of my chair, there is a crack of the bat, and it appears that Hedges has hit a deep fly ball that may get to the wall. No, it looks like the centerfielder is about to make the catch, I hope there still is some left over chicken in the fridge. Wait! Off his effing glove it goes, and the Pirates score 2 runs and Hedges is actually standing on 2nd base. Hayes is coming up next, definitely go to the fridge now.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Diamondbacks in Pittsburgh. The Pirates start a 6 game homestand against the Diamondbacks and the Rangers. They need to go 4-2 if this is a sign of righting the ship. Johan Oviedo will make the start tomorrow night and he really needs to make it a good one. It has been a roller coaster season so far, but if someone had told you at the beginning of the season that the Pirates would lose Oneil Cruz for an extended period of time and be 23-20 you would have said hell yeah. They need to make some hay on this homestand.

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Pirates Morning Report: No Miracles Last Night

Final Score: Pirates 0 Tigers 4

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates continue to be mired in one of the worst run scoring droughts in history. Luis Ortiz was his own worst enemy going only 3 innings with 2 of the 4 runs scoring on his throwing error and wild pitch. The bullpen held the Tigers in check the rest of the way, but it is rather easy to pitch, when you know you have no chance of winning. The Pirates flashed some pretty fancy leather that helped DUJ pitch 2 and 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. The Pirate offense managed 5 hits, 2 walks, and was 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. They went quietly at the end, with the last 10 Pirates failing to get on base, with only 5 putting a ball in play. Maybe it is some kind of virus. Whatever it is they sure do stink at the plate.

Key Moment Of The Game: Even though 2 runs would have been more than enough for the Tigers to win, Ortiz gifted them 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd to ensure their victory. The Tigers opened the inning with a hard hit double, followed one out later by an infield single that put runners at 1st and 3rd with one out. Then the fun began. Ortiz on a pick off move that looked like he was trying to throw the ball over like Kent Tekulve, threw the ball away, allowing the 3rd run to score, and moving the runner all the way over from first to third. He threw a wild pitch on the next batter, ensuring another run scoring, giving the Tigers an insurmountable, at least with the Pirates, 4 run lead.

Next Game: This afternoon, Tigers in Detroit. On paper, this looks like the biggest mismatch of the season. For the Pirates we have Rich (The Line Drive Right At Them Master) Hill, going against the Tigers Eduardo Rodriguez, who in his last 35 and 2/3 innings has given up 1 run. Every once in a while, when you see something like this you can get the big surprise. Maybe, this will be the game that the Pirates snap out of it. Maybe Castro will finally get a start. I would still like to know what that is all about. His replacement yesterday Josh Palacios hit into a double play and struck out twice. Will the road trip be miraculous, stay tuned.

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Pirates Morning Report: One Win Away From Miraculous

Final Score: Pirates 4 Orioles 0

Why The Pirates Won: Mitch Keller pitched another excellent game. He gave up no runs on 4 hits, no walks, while striking out 13 batters. He went 7 innings throwing 93 pitches with 70 of them for strikes. The bullpen finished the job, but Holderman made it interesting again. For the game, the Pirate’s pitchers struck out 17 Orioles. Even though the offense scored 4 runs they were still pretty putrid getting 7 singles along with 4 walks. I like the fact they put McCutchen in the leadoff spot, even though he did not do much after starting the game with a single and scoring the first run. Anybody is better than Hayes leading off. Hell, even bring the Turtle back. Just kidding, but I do miss him, the master of the 6 pitch strikeout and not swinging at one pitch.

Key Moment Of The Game: The top of the third the Pirates were leading 1-0 when Bryan Reynolds led off the inning by striking out, but was able to get to first base on a bizarre wild pitch that went toward the Oriole dugout. One out later Jack Suwinski walked. Ke’Bryan Hayes got a weak grounder through the right side of the infield to score Reynolds to make the score 2-0, moving Suwinski to third. Tucupita Marcano, for some unknown reason decided to bunt, moving Hayes, big whoop, to second base. Ji Hwan Bae got a ground ball just past a diving 1st baseman, bringing home the 3rd and 4th runs. This was a nice cushion for the Pirate pitchers to work with for the rest of the game. Things were much easier to deal with when the Orioles made some mild threats in the 8th and 9th.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Tigers, in Detroit. The Pirates are off today and need a split in Detroit to have that 2-3 road trip that I called miraculous, with the way they are playing. Hope they continue to let McCutchen leadoff. The mystery to me is why they are not starting Rodolfo Castro. He seems to be in the doghouse, since the start of the year. From not starting opening day to not starting since he hit the 2 run homer to give the Pirates their only other win in the last 2 weeks. The excuse is he doesn’t do as well batting right handed, along with the fact that his defense has not been great, and I agree completely. But he is way better than Andujar, Owings and Palacios, who combined are hitting .130. When he does not play it means one of them is. It’s just hard to understand the Pirates thinking on that one. Maybe it is some kind of attitude problem or a minor injury that they are not disclosing. Anyway, a much-needed win to send the Pirates to 22-19.

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Pirates Morning Report: When Things Are Going Bad They Really Go Bad

Final Score: Pirates 0 Orioles 2

Why The Pirates Loss: The punchless wonders could only get 3 hits and 2 walks. They only had 3 at bats with runners in scoring position and of course they were 0 for 3. Roansy Contreras pitched a solid 7 innings giving up 2 home runs that barely left the park. The Orioles only had 1 at bat with runners in scoring position. It was a nice rebound performance by Contreras, but it was simply not enough, when you pitch for the no run Pirates. The only good thing you could say about this game is that for the 2nd game in a row the Pirates did not make an error. According to Joe Block the Pirates have not scored this few of runs over a 12 game stretch for 115 years. He must have been waiting for that stat because he said it before the Orioles even began celebrating. The Pirates fell to 21-19 with no end in sight. All you can say about this streak is it has been, for the most part against the better teams in baseball, namely the American League East.

Key Moment Of The Game: With 2 out in the top the 7th, with Taylor Wells cruising along on a 1 hit shutout, the Pirates were able to draw back-to-back walks. This brought Miguel( I Can’t Believe That I Am In The Major Leagues) Andujar to the plate with his .165 batting average. On a 2-1 pitch he unbelievably hit a ball deep to right field that Anthony Santander stumbled and bumbled his way to the wall, leaped up, and caught the ball right in the webbing of his glove. As bad as the Pirates are, a play like that, and you know that when things are going bad, they really go bad. For the Pirates, they just have to keep their head down and keep plowing away.

Next Game: This Afternoon, Orioles in Baltimore. I wrote when they embarked on this road trip that if they went 2-3 it would be miraculous. So far, there have not been any water into wine moments. Mitch Keller takes the mound for the Pirates after his excellent complete game shutout, the only game the Pirates have won in the last 12. Everything has to come to an end as they say, but you have wonder if this hitting slump ever will. Maybe 2024.

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Pirates Morning Report: DUJ IN Mid-Season Form

Final Score: Pirates 3 Orioles 6

Why The Pirates Loss: Dwayne Underwood Junior, yes, I wrote it out in its entirety, because he deserves it, had a sterling performance last night. He came in the game with one out, a runner on second and the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 7th. When the 8th inning was over the score was 6-2 as he gave up the hit that took the lead and then a 3 run homer to give the Orioles their 6 runs. Dwayne now has a sparkling ERA of 5.40. For a while, I thought I was wrong about DUJ, like I am wrong, so far at least, about Velasquez, but I guess not. I wrote last year, that if DUJ was still on the team this year, the Pirates were not serious about winning. He did have some good moments, but now he is back to normal and getting whacked at will by opposing batters. DFA or IL, hopefully, not too far off in the future. The Pirate’s attack was as anemic as ever, although they did make things a little interesting in the 9th. They did score 3 runs for the second consecutive game, managing 7 hit to go along with 2 walks but struck out 12 times. Johan Oviedo pitched 5 plus innings only giving up 1 run but walked 5, giving up 4 hits. A somewhat better performance but not like he was doing early in the season. Just like the Pirates, as they now fall to 21-18.

Key Moment Of The Game: Allowing DUJ to come out for the 8th inning. Maybe the Pirates thought that he would stink and better to know in May than in August. There were certainly better pitching options in a tight game. I kind of doubt that this will be his last appearance as a Pirate, but we can only hope. Yes, he is misunderstood Underwood. What’s misunderstood is that he can pitch.

Next Game: Tonight, Orioles in Baltimore. Roansy Contreras will get the start and he has not been super sharp lately, giving up 9 runs in a little over 10 innings, with 7 walks. This was not the Contreras we saw last year. The Pirates need him to get back on track and the bats to do something for God’s sake. Will tonight be the night?

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Pirates Morning Report: Can They Come Out Of This Slump?

The Pirates start a 5 game road trip tonight in Baltimore. The Pirates have lost 9 out of 10 games and there have been various issues, but it’s the offense that has hit rock bottom. They have averaged 1.5 runs per game during this stretch. You are not going to win many games only scoring that many runs, thus the Pirates are 1 and 9. The naysayers have been out in full force with the typical, who didn’t know that, the Pirates stink again, and you knew this was too good to be true. The odds of the Pirates coming out of this in the next 4 weeks in my view is a flip of the coin. Heads the Pirates continue to collapse and around the 60 game mark will be under .500. Tails the Pirates will find a way to get back on track and start to play at least .500 ball or better and will be about 4 to 7 games above .500. One good thing is the Pirates have 4 days off from now until June 1. It will give them at various intervals to collect themselves and reset. Will see if yesterday’s off day has any positive effect. So, what could happen?

Heads: There is no question that the injuries to Oneil Cruz and Ji Man Choi have had a major impact on the Pirates offense. When the season started the 13 position players were all of major league caliber. Canaan Smith-Njigba was the only player who disappointed, and he was sent down. What has been brought up is not major league quality. Josh Palacios, Miguel Andujar, Chris Owings, Mark Mathias, and Tucupita Marcano are all nothing but AAA players. The only one that the jury is still out on is Marcano, who has yet to prove that he can hit Major League pitching. Mathias is back down in the minors but the other 4 are on the team and that is a lot of offensive weaklings to be carrying on a team that desperately needs to score runs. The Pirates are not going to bring up any top prospects until that date in June comes around when they won’t get that year’s credit of service. As ridiculous as this is, it is just part of the baseball way today. Unless one of these 4 players can get on some kind of surprising hot streak, the Pirates record at the 60 game mark will be about 28-32.

Tails: So, what needs to happen if the Pirates are going to come out of this slump. Jack Suwinski needs to get back to being the Jack Suwinski he was during the first 28 games. That is something that could happen. Ke’Bryan Hayes needs to get his OPS+ up over 100. Possible but not likely. Ji Hwan Bae needs to start being more selective and get his on base percentage up to about 350 like it was in the minors. This could happen. There does not seem to be much help in AAA. What the Pirates need is a hard hitting outfielder. This is the least likely thing to happen, but they could make a trade. Who would be a good trade piece. In my view Ke’Bryan Hayes. He is a superior glove but does not look like he is ever going to be much of a hitter. A team that has plenty of hitting but needs a defensive 3rd baseman would be interested in Hayes. He has a great team friendly contract. If the bat is big enough even throw in one of our relievers. The Pirates need to run the bases better. Could Austin Hedges get some breaks at the plate. I know he is a horrible hitter, but he has hit some balls that were crushed that wound up being caught. Like a lot of things hitting can be contagious and once they start hitting it could continue until that magical June date that will allow them to bring up some more Major Leaguers. Hopefully by then, it will not be too late.

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Pirates Morning Report: Well, At Least They Scored 3 Runs

Final Score: Pirates 3 Rockies 4

Why The Pirates Loss: Even though they scored 3 runs, at least that streak is broken, the offense still really did not do much. They had 6 hits and 6 walks but could not do much with it, as they continue to run themselves into outs. They only had 4 at bats with runners in scoring position and had 1 hit. Compare that with the Rockies who had 8 hits and 4 walks but had 14 at bats with runners in scoring position. Rich Hill cruised for 3 innings then had an inning like Ortiz did where nothing went right and an error, this time by Hill, opened up the floodgates to allow 3 runs to score. The Pirates continue to slump and the record falls to 21-17

Key Moments Of The Game: This one had many including the error by Hill that allowed the Rockies to tie the game after the Pirates had taken a 3-0 lead after 3 innings. It boiled down to this. The Pirates loaded the bases in the bottom of the 6th on a walk, a single and a walk. They could not score. In the top of the 7th the Rockies loaded the bases with a walk, a single and a walk. They were able to push across one run. Not a great performance, but in this instance, it was enough to win the game. The Pirates simply do not have enough players that are capable of hitting major league pitching. They are unwilling to bring players up that are capable of hitting major league pitching because of contract control. The injuries are beginning to take it’s toll. This could be a prolonged stretch.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Orioles in Baltimore. The Pirates will get a much needed day off today. They have lost 9 of their last 10 games and most of them have not been close. Yesterdays was, but the other 8 losses were by an average of 5.5 runs per game. All phases of their game has declined with the offense leading the way. Since the 29 game report the Pirates have loss 8 of 9. All their stats have tumbled but none as much as the offense. OBP fell to 10th from 3rd. OPS+ was 4th in baseball now is 14th. They are now 11th in Runs per Game down from 5th at the 29 game mark. They have a 5 game road trip coming up. Going 2-3 would be miraculous.