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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Do Return The Favor

Final Score: Pirates 0 Mariners 1

Why The Pirates Lost: They got shut out for the 3rd consecutive game. They have not scored for 28 innings. The Triple P Offense did not quite live up to its name in this game. They were not all that passive. They took only 15 pitches for strikes. They made up for it by being so pathetic. They struck out 13 times. They did not walk. Why would you walk any Pirate batter? They had no extra-base hits. They did have 3 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The game before, they had none. They are pretty putrid, also. They have 4 players slugging .300 or less. They have 5 players on the team that have on-base percentages of under .300. All of this wasted another great pitching performance by Paul Skenes, Carmon Mlodzinski, and Genesis Cabrera. The Pirates head to Kansas City to play the Royals. They have more trouble scoring runs than the Pirates. They prevent runs better than the Pirates. The all-time scoreless streak of 48 innings is a real possibility.

Key Moments Of The Game. Oneil Cruz’s spectacular throw to nail the Mariners runner at the plate was impressive. It could have been a key moment if the Pirates had scored any runs. The Pirates’ offense really never threatened to score. In the top of the 5th, the Pirates were able to put together two hits in an inning. Jared (Why Am I In The Big Leagues) Triolo was on first base with one out. He had just blasted an 87 MPH ground ball into a force out. Henry Davis hit a 77 MPH ground ball perfectly between 1st and 2nd. Why Triolo did not make it to 3rd base on the play, I don’t know. IKF’s fly ball would have scored him. Randy Arozarena hit the home run that decided the game. It was on a pitch right down the middle, slightly above the knees. The road trip is becoming a disaster.

Next Game: Tonight, Royals in Kansas City. As mentioned before, the Pirates head for Kansas City to chase history. In the last 2 games, the Pirates have not had an extra-base hit. They are truly the punchless wonders. They are last in home runs, having hit 61. The White Sox are next with 70. What the Pirates do at the trade deadline does not really interest me anymore. You know that BC will just screw it up. At least we know what the glitch was: the six-game winning streak. Buckle up. It is going to be a long ride to October.

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Pirates Morning Report: Will Pirates Return The Favor

Final Score: Pirates 0 Mariners 1

Why The Pirates Lost: For the second straight game, the Pirates were shut out. This time they were more inept than the game before. They never got a runner to 2nd base. They had 2 hits, both by Spencer Horwitz. Tommy Pham walked for their only other base runner. They struck out 11 times. This series has that same eerie feeling as the Cardinal series, but with the Pirates in the Cardinals role. The Pirates won the first game of the Cardinals series 7-0. They lost to the Mariners 6-0. They beat the Cardinals 1-0 in game 2. The Mariners beat the Pirates by the same score in game 2. Mike Burrows had a nice outing. In 5 innings, he gave up 3 hits and 4 walks. I guess the law of averages caught up with Caleb Ferguson. He gave up the only run of the game. He had only given up 1 run since May 17th over his last 19 appearances. The Pirates start this road trip 0-2 as they head for the All-Star break. Is the glitch the 43 runs they scored on the 6-game win streak? Or is the glitch being shut out for 2 games in a row? We should find out today.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had no key offensive moments. They reverted back to the Triple P offense. Passive. Putrid. Pathetic. The ninth was a synopsis of the game. They took 3 strikes, Passive. They swung at 5 strikes, missing 4, Putrid. They swung and missed at one ball, Pathetic. Caleb Ferguson came on in the bottom of the 6th inning. He gave up a leadoff double. The runner advanced to 3rd on a ground out. Ferguson got the next batter to ground out to Hayes, holding the runner on 3rd for the 2nd out. There was optimism that he would get out of the inning. Ben Williamson took a 3-1 pitch that wasn’t bad and drilled it into right field. It fell for a base hit and the Mariners had the deciding run. Ferguson then loaded the bases with a hit batsman and a walk. Isaac Mattson came on and struck out Julio Rodriguez on a tough six-pitch at bat. This ended the threat. At the time, you hoped that this might be a key moment for the Pirates. Alas, it was not. Let’s hope the offense perks back up today.

Next Game: This afternoon, Mariners in Seattle. Paul Skenes goes for the Pirates today. He may be more jinxed than Keller. This would be a great day for the Pirate offense to bounce back. It would also be great for Skenes to throw a nice 7 to 8-inning shutout. We shall simply call this glitch day. Will the real Pirate offense please stand up? It is a little scary if you ask me. The suspense is killing me. It’s just like waiting to see if Greg Brown will ever pronounce Horwitz’s name correctly. I guess the difference is we all know that is not happening. With the Pirate offense there is at least a chance.

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Pirates Morning Report: Another Dominate Series

The Pirates extended their win streak to 6 games by sweeping the Cardinals. The offense did ok scoring 13 runs for the series. They only scored one run in game 2 but it was enough. In a spectacular pitching performance the Pirates did not allow a run for the entire series. In the 1st game of the series Andrew Heaney was dominate taking a no hitter into the 6th inning. For the game the Cardinals had 4 hits and a walk. Games 2 and 3 were studies in frustration for the Cardinals offense. In game 2 they had 7 hits and 4 walks. They were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. This was the 1-0 game where the Pirates only had 4 hits. Don Kelly looked brilliant when he pinch hit for the suddenly hot Tommy Pham. Pinch hitter Adam Frazier doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Henry Davis’s sacrifice fly drove in the only run of the game. The Cardinals offensive failures continued in game 3. They had 6 hits, including 3 doubles, and 3 walks. They left 10 men on base again by going 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. This all added up to 3 straight shutouts for the Pirates and a 6 game winning streak. The Pirates head on the road to face the Mariners,Royals and Twins. These teams are decent but not power houses. If they can somehow someway do something extraordinary and continue this winning streak for a few more games they may salvage this season yet.

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Pirates Morning Report: Blowing Out The Mets Over The Weekend

Since I have been gone the Pirates are 3-2. They lost 2 to the Brewers. The last game of the series saw Paul Skenes lose to Jacob Misiorowski. Skenes had a “bad” bottom of the 2nd giving up 4 runs. Even though all the runs were earned, it was an inning where only 2 runs should have scored. It was not to be. The Pirates scored 1 in the 7th and 1 in the 8th to make it interesting. With a little luck and better defense it could have been a tie game at this point. But oh what a weekend. The Pirates destroyed the New York Mets. They out scored them 30 to 4 in the 3 games. I can’t even remember when the Pirates dominated a team like this. Holding the Mets to 4 runs over the 3 games was impressive enough. Scoring 30 runs in those game was miraculous. Cruz woke up Sunday hitting two 2 run homers. Henry Davis had a 4 hit game. Tommy Pham continued his hot bat hitting his 2nd home run of the season. Bryan Reynolds went 5 for 14 for the weekend hitting 2 home runs. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 7 for 13 for the weekend. It was a total team demolition of the New York Mets. The Cardinals come to town next. Can the Pirates keep this up? This should have given this team a confidence boost. Can they win 6 in a row.

On a sad note Dave Parker passed away on Saturday June 28th. At least he knew he was going to the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer. I believe the one thing that kept Dave Parker from getting into the Hall was his lack of the home run ball He was big and strong but hit just 339 home runs. He hit 30 or over just twice in 19 years. His 162 game average was 22. He could do it all. His extra base average was 40 per year. He had a great arm and won 3 Gold Gloves. His career WAR was 40.1. I fine that to be low. His post season hitting although not bad did not meet up to his regular standards. Maybe it was his brashness that kept him out. The newspaper writers loved him for his one liners and cockiness. But then they used that as an excuse for not voting him in. Parker would have been the greatest right fielder in Pirates history if not for the Great One Roberto Clemente. Parker was one of a kind. The Hall needed him to get in. I’m just happy that he knew he was going.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pham On Fire

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 4

Why The Pirates Won: The offense had its ups and downs but put 5 runs on the board. They knocked out 14 hits. They did leave 9 runners on base and struck out 16 times. All of this was just enough to edge the Brewers. Tommy Pham continued to hit. He went 2 for 4, hitting his first home run of the season. Nick Gonzales went 5 for 5, driving in 2 runs. Braxton Ashcraft did as well as any opener, going 3 innings. He gave up just one hit. He struck out 2, walking none. Hunter Stratton came in and got roughed up for 3 runs on 4 hits. In the last 4 innings, the bullpen gave up 1 run on 4 hits and a walk. The Pirates managed to control one of the hottest hitting teams in the league. It was a nice, surprising win for the Pirates.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had some 2-out lightning in the 1st. Bryan Reynolds singled, and Gonzales followed with a double to make the score 1-0. In the top of the 2nd, the Pirates reverted back to their old ways. They had 1st and 3rd with no outs and couldn’t score. Pham and IKF struck out. Oneil Cruz, who continues to struggle, grounded out. If the Pirates had lost, it would have been an even bigger moment. Tommy Pham hit his 1st homer with a man on to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead in the 4th. In the bottom of the inning, the Brewers got 2 runs off Hunter Stratton. In the top of the 5th, Reynolds and Gonzales reversed themselves. Reynolds opened the inning with a double. Gonzales singled him home to make the score 4-2. The bottom of the 5th featured the play of the game for the Pirates. Stratton started off the bottom of the 5th by giving up a single and hitting a batter. Chase Shugart came in to relieve him. On a 2-2 count, Jackson Chourio hit a soft liner right to Shugart. Without hesitation, he quickly turned and fired a strike to 2nd base. This doubled off the runner on 2nd base. Without this heads-up play by Shugart, the Christian Yelich home run would have given the Brewers the lead. IKF drove in the deciding run in the top of the 6th. The bullpen protected it for 4 innings. In the bottom of the 8th, Isaac Mattson and Yelich had a classic battle. In an 11-pitch at-bat, Mattson managed to strike him out. The Pirates got two calls reversed. One was in the 8th. The other was in the 9th. These calls were the final keys to victory.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Milwaukee. Well, boys and girls, the Pirates Morning Report will be going on a vacation hiatus until July 6th. Last year, I went the first 10 days in September. During that time last year, I wrote about 3 reports, giving some 3- and 4-game summaries. I admit I need a break from watching this team every day. Can this offense continue? I have my doubts, but each day they do it will prove me wrong. It would be nice to see about a two-week stretch where they average 4 to 5 runs per game. I will admit Tommy Pham has had some amazing hot streaks in his career. Could he have one more? Stay tuned.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pham, Hayes Have Game Of The Year

Final Score: Pirates 8 Rangers 3

Why The Pirates Won: Tommy Pham and Ke’Bryan Hayes had their games of the year. Pham went 3 for 3 with a sacrifice fly. He had 2 doubles and drove in 3 runs. He had 9 RBIs going into the game. Hayes went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Hayes also flashed some spectacular leather. The Pirate offense came alive with 8 runs on 15 hits. They walked 3 times and struck out just 3 times. Bailey Falter was pretty much ineffective, but all is forgiven when your team scores 8 runs. In 5 and 1/3 innings, he gave up 3 runs on 6 hits. He walked 5 and struck out 1. It took him 89 pitches to get into the 6th inning. The bullpen did not give up a hit. It was a nice win for the Pirates. They have dropped their 3rd series in a row. The Pirates have had offensive outbursts earlier this season. The problem is they just don’t seem to sustain them. It would be nice to see them rattle off about 4 or 5 games where they score at least 4 runs. Not likely to happen.

Key Moments Of The Game: Bailey Falter danced through the raindrops most of the time. None more so than the top of the 3rd. He gave up a double and a walk to start the inning. In 3 pitches, he retired Corey Seager and Marcus Semien on a pop-up and fly-out. Then he threw a wild pitch to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Adolis Garcia hit a 102 MPH ground ball. Hayes made a diving stop and threw on to first to get the final out of the inning. The score was tied going into the bottom of the 5th, 2-2. The Pirates took the lead 3-2 on a walk and 2 singles. Joey Bart hit into a force out at second. This put runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. Then the miracle happened. Spencer (Please Pronounce My Name Right Greg Brown) Horwitz doubled, driving in 2 runs. Hayes singled, driving in a run. Pham doubled, driving in a run. Suddenly, the Pirates had a 7-2 lead. Falter tried to give it away the next inning. Another spectacular play by Hayes helped limit the damage to 1 run. The Pirates added another run in the 7th and won going away 8-3.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Milwaukee. Braxton Ashcraft is going to start for the Pirates. I don’t know if this is going to be a bullpen game or a legitimate start for Ashcraft. I don’t think the Pirates know either. We will see if the offense can finally get some consistency. You know after the game Pham had, he will be starting. If not, I imagine that Kelly will be fired on the spot. Speaking of offense, the Brewers are red hot. They have won 4 in a row and have scored a whopping 43 runs in those 4 games. That is a month’s worth of runs for the Pirates. I’m not looking it up, but I bet the Pirates have not scored 43 runs in a week of games. Can the Pirates withstand the barrage? Probably not.

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Pirates Morning Report: Triple P Offense Flying High.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Rangers 3

Why The Pirates Lost: All 5 of my pregame questions were answered in the negative. Despite that, it was not a bad game for the Pirates. Just to go through them: both Triolo and Bart did not start. Cruz was not benched. Not only did Billy Cook not start, but he’s also not even on the team anymore. McCutchen did not lead off. The Triple P offense was on all cylinders. They took 21 pitches for strikes—Passive. They had no extra-base hits—Pathetic. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position—Putrid. They had 2 runs on 5 hits and walked 3 times. In the last 3 innings, they did not get a man on base. The fact that they sent down Billy Cook to AAA shows they have no interest in winning. Mitch Keller was the recipient of all of this firepower. He pitched decently, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 2. The bullpen shut out the Rangers the rest of the way on 1 hit and 2 walks. With the Pirates, that is simply not good enough. The Pirates have played more games than 26 teams. Yet, they have scored the fewest runs in baseball by a wide margin. They are 11 runs behind the Kansas City Royals, who have played one less game. They still do nothing.

Key Moments Of The Game; The Pirate outfield continues to look like the Keystone Cops. This time it was Adam Frazier who misplayed a ball that led directly to the Rangers’ 1st run. Keller walked the first batter who scored the run in the top of the third. The Pirates tied the game in the bottom of the 5th. In the top of the 6th, another walk would come back to haunt Keller. He struck out the 1st batter. Josh Smith singled to right field. Keller walked Sam Haggerty on 4 straight pitches. Corey Seager singled in the go-ahead run, sending Haggerty to third base. He scored on Marcus Semien’s sacrifice fly to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. The Rangers then tried to give away the game in the bottom of the 6th. The Pirates refused the gift. After one out, Kumar Rocker walked Horwitz and Gonzales. He was replaced by Shawn Armstrong. He drilled Adam Frazier in the back on an 0-2 pitch to load the bases. Henry Davis hit a big chopper down to third, scoring a run. The third baseman got the force out at 3rd. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a towering drive 203 feet that was caught to end the inning. The Pirates did not get a man on base the rest of the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rangers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates try to avoid being swept at home today. Bailey (It’s Not My) Falter goes for the Pirates. Can’t wait to see the Triple P offensive lineup today. Will we see Tommy Pham today? Will we see Alexander Canario? I don’t know why the Pirates just don’t make it obvious that they are trying to lose games. The outfield should be Pham, Canario, and Frazier. Henry Davis should DH and lead off. Hunter Stratton should be the first reliever out of the bullpen. The comedy continues. It’s not funny if you are a ticket holder.

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Pirate Morning Report: Kelly Honeymoon Over

Final Score: Pirates 2 Rangers 6

Why The Pirates Lost: The Rangers brought the leather. The Pirates brought the lunacy. In the top of the 1st inning, the situation was laughable. The Pirates handed the Rangers a couple of runs to start the game. The Rangers opened the game with a single. Sam Haggerty hit a sharp line drive to centerfield for what appeared to be another single. Oneil Cruz completely whiffed on the ball as it whizzed by him. Then he turned around and just looked at it. This allowed Haggerty to go all the way to third, and a run scored. Mike Burrows wild-pitched the runner home on the third pitch to Corey Seager. Two batters, two singles, two runs. Nobody does it better than the Pirates. It was right here that Don Kelly could have made an impact. He should have benched Cruz after the inning was over. He did not. There is something up with Oneil Cruz. He has looked lousy at the plate for over a month. The Pirates have not addressed this as usual. It even got worse for the Pirates in the field. In the top of the 7th, Canario and Cruz put on quite a show. It was pretty much indescribable. It wound up with Canario falling on his back and having to flip the ball to Cruz to throw it in. You’re just going to have to watch on YouTube. Look for it under baseball at its worst. On the other side of the coin, the Rangers put on a fielding clinic. Adolis Garcia made two spectacular diving catches in the bottom of the 2nd and 3rd innings. He led off the top of the 4th by hitting a home run. There were other great plays by the Rangers to support Jacob deGrom. The Rangers had 13 hits. The Pirates were fortunate that this wasn’t more of a blowout. The Rangers were 1 for 11 with men in scoring position. They left 12 men on base.

Key Moments Of The Game: Start with the lineup. Again, the Pirates bring someone up and then do not play him. Billy Cook finally did get in the game, but why did he not start? After the two-batter circus in the first inning, you felt the game was over. That may have been harsh, but that is the way I felt. The Rangers managed to add on as the game progressed. They scored single runs in the 4th, 5th, 7th, and 9th. Despite getting 9 hits, the Pirates never really threatened to make a game of it. This is the worst the Pirates have looked under Kelly. It remains to be seen if anything will be done about it. We all know that nothing will happen. The Pirate way. It is such a simple equation. The Tampa Bay Rays have the blueprint for what to do. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the blueprint for what not to do. Major League Baseball should be grateful for how the Pirates have shown the way.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rangers in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates today. Will Billy Cook get in the starting lineup? Will Oneil Cruz be benched? Will Andrew McCutchen lead off? Will Jared Triolo start his 2nd straight game at 3rd base? Will Joey Bart catch? After all, he went 3 for 4 yesterday. If all the answers to those questions are yes, then the Pirates have a chance. For every no, the Pirates’ chances of winning drop 20%. Stay tuned.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Get The Split

Final Scores: Game 1 Pirates 2 Tigers 9 Game 2 Pirates 8 Tigers 4 10 innings

Why The Pirates Split: The Pirates did better against Tarik Skubal than I thought they would. However, there were no miracles in game 1. The Tiger offense ripped starter Andrew Heaney for 7 runs on 8 hits. This was way more than Skubal needed. Both Skubal and Skenes had their problems in the rainy weather. They had almost identical lines. Skubal went 5 and 2/3 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 6 hits. He walked 3 batters and struck out 6. In game 2, Paul Skenes went 6 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits. He walked 5 and struck out 9. Both pitchers had trouble with control, walking more batters in one game than they had all year. Skenes left the game with the Pirates leading 4-2. Of course, the bullpen blew the lead. In the bottom of the 7th, it took the Tigers 3 batters to tie the game. The runs were given up by Isaac Mattson. In his defense, the home run ball he gave up was on a pitch that was almost over Colt Keith’s head. The Pirates brought out the home run ball early in game 2. Nick Gonzales and Andrew McCutchen hit solo home runs. Jared (I Should Be Playing Instead Of Hayes) Triolo hit a 2-run shot. This accounted for the Pirates’ 4 runs. After that, the Pirate offense died as usual. They went from the 4th through the 8th inning without getting a hit. In the 10th inning, things finally went their way.

Key Moments Of The Games: When the score is 9-2 there aren’t really any key moments. The one thing about game 1 was there were a lot of bloop hits. The Tigers had the vast majority, but the Pirates had a few of their own. With any luck, Heaney could have had a better outing. It would not have been good enough to win, but his stats would not have taken such a big hit. In the top of the 10th, the Pirates made two questionable moves, but it all turned out. They used Tommy Pham to run for Andrew McCutchen, who started the inning at 2nd base. Then they pinch-hit with Ke’Bryan Hayes to start the 10th. When Hayes singled and Pham was ruled safe at the plate, you knew the Pirates were going to win the game. Replay let the call stand, and Tigers manager A. J. Hinch was tossed from the game. The Pirates added 3 more runs, with Joey Bart and IKF getting the key RBI hits. David Bednar shut down the Tigers in the 10th. The Pirates had their split. That gave them a 2-5 road trip.

Next Game: Tonight, Rangers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have a 3-game homestand with the Texas Rangers. The Pirates go from the frying pan into the fire. The new Jacob deGrom starts for the Rangers. He is new because he is trying to stay healthy for an entire season. His velocity is down about 2 to 3 MPH. He has been just as effective. The weather is supposed to be good. The Pirates will not have that to help them out. deGrom is not averaging 6 innings per game. Maybe the Pirates can score late. The starting lineup will be the key here. I am sure it will be wrong.

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Pirates Morning Report: Postponing The Inevitable

The Pirates and Tigers got rained out yesterday. They are playing a split doubleheader today. Some were saying that this would be an opportunity to see Tarik Skubal go up against Paul Skenes. Right now, it does not seem like this is going to happen. According to both ESPN and the Pirates’ website, Heaney is still going to face Skubal in game 1. Hopefully, this is true. Even if Skenes were to face Skubal, I think the Pirates would still lose. It would be less of an upset if Skenes and the Pirates won the game. At least with Skenes going in the nightcap, it gives the Pirates a better chance at splitting the games. The weather delay just postponed the possibility of the Pirates not getting a hit against Skubal.

A factor that might be in the Pirates’ favor is the current state of baseball. A lot of strange things are happening at the moment. The Yankees have lost 6 in a row. The Rays have won 11 of their last 15 games and are now 1.5 games behind the Yankees. This is why it is so frustrating being a Pirates fan. The Rays have the blueprint for a small market team’s success. The Pirates just don’t follow it. It is not a deep dark secret. The Mets have lost 5 in a row. The Phillies are now a game back of the Mets. The Dodgers have won 5 in a row. This has coincided with their 3 closest pursuers having losing streaks. The Giants have lost 4 games in a row. The Padres and Diamondbacks have lost 3 games in a row each. The Dodgers suddenly have a 4.5 game lead in the west. Finally, the Colorado Rockies have won 4 in a row. It has cut their run differential to minus 195. They scored 29 runs during this 4-game win streak. The Pirates have never scored 29 runs in any 4-game stretch. The unexpected is happening right now in baseball. If the Pirates beat Skubal today, it would be the biggest surprise of all. I still think there is more of a chance he will not give up a hit.