Category: Uncategorized

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Pirates Morning Report: Going From Sellers To Byers On One Swing Of The Bat.

Final Score: Pirates 5 Cardinals 4 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Won: The offense had an up and down game. On the plus side they got 11 hits, only struck out 7 times and really hit the ball hard. On the negative side they were only 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position with both of those hits coming in the 10th inning. Same thing could be said for the pitching. Jared Jones pitched well but was only allowed to throw 78 pitches despite having extended rest between starts. Colin Holderman did not dance through the rain drops giving up the 2 run homer to Willson Contreras that tied the game 3-3. Here is the thing about Holderman, he has made 32 appearances and has had only 8 clean innings. When you win all is forgiven, even Michael Taylor’s ridiculous bunt attempts in the bottom of the tenth.

Key Moments Of The Game: It was all in the 10th inning. The Cardinals only scored one run and really did not take advantage of the Chapman mistake of not covering first base. In the bottom of the 10th the Pirates could not move the runner over to third base again and you thought we are going to lose. But then McCutchen walked and the Cardinals brought in lefty JoJo Romero and his 2.61 ERA. Bryan Reynolds took his 4th pitch into center field for a base hit that tied the game. Oneil Cruz wasting no time took the first pitch and lined it down the right field line for another hits and the Pirates had an amazing win.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Martin Perez will start today and let’s hope he can get his act together. The bullpen got pretty much depleted yesterday. I would assume Ortiz will be available for a couple of innings. It is essential that Perez goes a solid 6 innings.

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Pirates Morning Report: One Inning Of Hitting Not Enough This Time

Final Score: Pirates 4 Cardinals 7

Why The Pirates Lost: Again the Pirates had a putrid offense for 8 innings scoring no runs on 3 hits. For the 2nd game in a row they had a 4 run inning all on the long ball. Jack Suwinski hit a 3 run homer followed one out later by a solo shot by Andrew McCutchen. Unfortunately the Cardinals scored a lot more than just one run. Mitch Keller got knocked around pretty good giving up 6 runs on 9 hits in just 5 innings of work. The bullpen gave up another run for the final score of 7-4. The home stand gets off to a sluggish start.

Key Moment Of The Game: The score was 2-0 going into the top of the 4th. Brenden Donovan opened the inning with a hard hit line drive single to center field. This is where things went bad. Catcher’s interference and a 72 MPH bloop single to left field loaded the bases with no outs. This brought up Nolan Gorman who in his last 15 games was hitting.122 with 2 home runs. No question the man has power, hitting 16 home runs so far this season, more than any Pirate by a wide margin. He took an outside edge curve ball and went with it to hit a grand slam homer for number 17, and faster than you could say this game is over, it was 6-0. That 4 run inning got the Pirates within 2, but you never really felt the Pirates were going to catch up and you were right.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Besides being a disappointing loss it was a surprise to see Luis Ortiz coming out of the bullpen. He pitches one of the best games of the year and he is back in the bullpen? You are trying to conserve innings for Jones and Skenes. It makes no sense. Another mystery decision by the Pirates. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

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Gratitude

How do you express your gratitude?

I express my gratitude quietly. Once when I get up in the morning and then right before I go to bed. It can be a very difficult world out there. It is hard to believe what some people have to suffer through both physically and spiritually. I am not too sure what that is all about. Losing loved ones is by far the worst thing that can happen to a person. Chronic physical pain is not far behind. Suffering is a part of life and we have all suffered in some way, just by different degrees. Maybe at the end of life it will be all explained. That would be nice.

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Pirates Morning Report: Just When You Are Ready To Give Up On This Team, They Win One.

Final Score: Pirates 4 Braves 2

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates had a solid pitching performance by Bailey (It’s Not My) Falter they think I can only throw 80 pitches, and the bullpen, who were forced to throw 4 innings because of such thinking. The bullpen was up to the task even though Aroldis Chapman had a shaky ninth inning. The offense had 8 putrid innings, scoring no runs on 4 hits. But one inning, the top of the 5th, thanks to some Braves kindness and a little luck, the Pirates were able to score, count em, 4 runs. The inning started out harmless enough when Jack (Why Do They Keep Letting Me Embarrass Myself) Suwinski got hit in his big toe. It took a Pirate challenge to get him on first base. Andrew McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds both struck out on a total of 8 pitches. Spencer (I Think Oneil Cruz Is Overrated) Schwellenbach laid a 90 MPH cutter right over the plate to the overrated Cruz on the first pitch and he belted it 452 feet to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. S. S. as I like to call him, walked Edward Olivares on 5 pitches. This brought Rawhide Rowdy (It’s A Shame That June Has To Come To An End) Tellez to the plate. Low and behold he hit an 82 MPH splitter on the inside corner of the plate into the seats to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead they protected until the bottom of the 9th.

Key Moment Of The Game: Aroldis Chapman came into the bottom of the 9th and the fun began. He got Austin Riley to ground out to the shortstop where Cruz made a very nice play. Chapman gave up a single and a double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with just one out. Orlando Arcia took an 87 MPH slider and lined it into centerfield where Michael Taylor made a spectacular catch for the 2nd out. A run scored, but instead of the Braves having runners on 1st and 3rd with one out at the very least, they had a runner on 2nd with two out. Zack Short hit a sharp ground ball but right at Jared (Why Am I In The Major Leagues And Jason Delay Is Not) Triolo to end the game. The last two outs were hit 97 and 109 MPH. All of this enabled the Pirates to salvage one game in the series and have a .500 road trip.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have 13 games before the All Star break, seven home games and 6 road games. They have no days off after today until the break. I heard that the coaching staff was up all night last night trying to come up with the perfect rest schedule for this aging team. Playing 13 games in 13 days will definitely be too much for this veteran team. This will be the critical factor during this stretch giving the players the proper rest. Ten of these games will be against teams that are battling the Pirates for the wild card spot or division title. The stress will be ungodly for these poor boys. I am sure the Pirate lineup cards will reflect this and be perfect for every game. I just fell off my chair laughing.

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Pirates Morning Report: Poor Fundamentals and Bad Strategy

Final Score: Pirates 1 Braves 2 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: It all happened in the 10th inning which I will get to. This featured two of the best pitchers in the National League, Paul Skenes and Max Fried. Their performances were eerily similar. They both went 6 innings giving up 1 run on 6 hits. They were both tough when they needed to be, not giving up a hit with runners in scoring position. They both seemed to have trouble with the mound. As they like to say on MLB Now, were the Braves up to no good, trying to throw a young pitcher off. If they were, it also seemed to throw their own pitcher off. Skenes threw 102 pitches and Fried 103 pitches. Skenes walked 2, Fried walked 3. The only big difference was Skenes struck out 9 including the last 3 batters he faced, while Fried struck out 4. This game boiled down to the 10th inning and it showed why the Braves are who they are, one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the National League, and why the Pirates are in the depths of mediocrity.

The Key Moments Of The Game: Edward Olivares had moved to third with one out in the top of the tenth. A wild pitch sent Olivares home and he would have been safe, but he made the worst slide since Gregory Polanco. The umpire called him safe because there was no way he could have been out. However, the replay showed he was clearly out. He could have gone in headfirst. Hell, he would have been safe if he had just run across the plate. There was no catcher at the plate, and he was tagged from behind. Good God. We go to the bottom of the 10th and now the WINNING run is on 2nd base with nobody out. Even the Pirate broadcast booth knew what to do. Unfortunately, the Pirate bench did not. Maybe Shelton didn’t realize that Olivares had been called out. Adam Duval’s run meant nothing. You could just walk him or at the very least give him four pitches out of the zone and see if he chases. With runners on 1st and 2nd you open up the possibility of a double play and the force out at third. Certainly, what you don’t do is throw 2 pitches right down the middle of the plate, like Kyle Nicolas did. Duval, auditioning to become a Pirate, took the first one. The second one he cracked to the base of the wall and the game was quickly over. Again momentum lost for the Pirates. What were they thinking? Only the Shadow knows.

Next Game: Late this morning, Braves in Atlanta. The Pirates will probably get swept today. They should be made to drive back to Pittsburgh in a bus without air conditioning. At least send the coaching staff on it.

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Pirates Morning Report: It Was Like He Never Left

Final Score: Pirates 1 Braves 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Martin Perez made his first start in over a month, and it was not good. In 4 innings he gave up 6 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. He had the same issues that he had when he went on the IL on May 26th. He was working from behind a lot as he could not locate his pitches. With the Pirates trying to conserve innings with the young pitchers he better correct this soon. The Pirate bats were silenced by Charlie Morton pitching 6 and 1/3 innings giving up only 3 hits and walking 1. The only good news was Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 24 games by getting a seeing eye ground ball through the infield in his last at bat in the 8th inning. Ke’Bryan Hayes did get a couple of hits so maybe he might be coming out of his funk. No such signs for Oneil Cruz going 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. As a team the Pirates struck out 13 times. Keep on processing boys.

Key Moment Of The Game: It was 1-0 going into the top of the 3rd when the Braves broke it open quickly. In 19 pitches the Braves went single, walk, single, double, single to make the score 5-0 and this game was over. They were able to add a 5th run in the inning to make the score 6-0. The Pirates never really threatened to make a game of it.

Next Game: This afternoon, Braves in Atlanta. Two big guns are going today, Paul Skenes vs. Max Fried. The only hope for the Pirates is that in his last 3 starts Fried has not gone past the 6th inning and only pitched 5+ in two of them. With one of the best lefties in the game going, I do not expect to see Oneil Cruz in the lineup. I normally do not agree with that, but in this case, Cruz is in such a funk right now, I don’t think he will come out of it against this guy. The series in Cincinnati started out badly and the Pirates won the next two. Could this happen again against the mighty Braves. Who knows? Only the Shadow Shelton knows.

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Habits

What are your daily habits?

The definition of habit is an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary. To begin as they happen, my first daily habit is to wake up. It may be the most important. Without that, there are no more habits. After waking up I know I am breathing. Next I move, walking, go to the bathroom, urinate, and go downstairs. Drink coffee, use my I pad, go back upstairs, have a bowel movement, put eye drops in, shave, floss, brush my teeth, take a shower and meditate. I will eat food, do some kind of activity that takes me through the day, which includes being on the desk top computer. I will urinate at other times throughout the day. Eat food, watch TV, put eye drops in, brush my teeth, urinate and go to bed. Those are the things that I know I do every single day. There are many things that I know I do almost every day. That was not the question. Most people think of habits as things they do with the adjective good or bad in front of it. It is hard to develop good habits and difficult to break bad habits. Another way to put it is to say it is easy to get addicted to bad habits and hard to get addicted to good habits. Why is that? Now THAT is a great question. If I only had the answer.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Offense Continues

Final Score: Pirates 6 Reds 1

Why The Pirates Won: Luis Ortiz finally got a chance to start and did not disappoint. He went 6 strong innings giving up 1 run, 4 hits, walking no one, striking out 7, while throwing 85 pitches. Kyle Nicolas followed that up with 2 innings of hitless ball, walking one. Aroldis Chapman pitched the 9th to complete an excellent pitching day for the Pirates. The offense didn’t do to bad either getting 6 runs on 10 hits, led by Rawhide Rowdy and Andrew McCutchen, who each hit a home run. Jack Suwinski and Jason Delay went a combined 3 for 6, driving in the other 3 runs.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The Reds had just tied the game in the bottom of the 3rd, when Rawhide Rowdy led off the the top of the 4th by taking a 3-2 pitch and sending into the seats to immediately take back the lead 2-1. In the top of the 5th Delay doubled followed by the McCutchen homer to give the Pirates a 3 run cushion. In the top of the 6th, Delay got a big 2 out double to drive in 2 more and the Pirates breezed to a series win that they needed desperately. The lineup was good today and all I can say is, it’s about time.

Next Game: Tomorrow, the Braves in Atlanta. The 3 game series begins in Atlanta. Hopefully the Pirates can win one for a 3-3 road trip. No pitchers have been officially announced. This day off today is critical for the Pirates brain trust to have plenty of time to screw this up.

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Pirates Morning Report: What A Difference A Week Makes

Final Score: Pirates 9 Reds 5

Why The Pirates Won: A week ago today Mitch Keller and Hunter Greene had one of the best pitcher’s duel of the year, each giving up just 2 hits. Last night they would have been happy if they had just given up 2 runs a piece. Greene seemed to be under the weather but the Reds didn’t seem to care. Keller took 104 pitches to struggle through 5 and 2/3 innings. Granted there should have been some outfield plays that could have been made, especially by Michael Taylor, but Keller walked 3, hit a batter, and had only one inning where he retired the side in order. The Pirate offense took advantage of Greene’s stomach problems belting him around for 6 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. I was surprised he came out for the 2nd inning. The Reds are dumber than the Pirates. It was a much needed win for the Pirates.

Key Moments Of The Game: After Andrew McCutchen walked to start the game, Greene got Bryan Reynolds to foul off the first pitch. He turned around and vomited on the mound. After much discussion he stayed in the game. Reynolds worked the count to 3-2 and then hit a slider out of the park to give the Pirates a quick 2-0 lead. The Pirates added another run thanks to a Rawhide Rowdy stolen base and Nick Gonzales single. The Reds allowed Greene to throw 3 more innings. It only took him 93 pitches to do it. He gave up 3 more runs in the 3rd. In the bottom of the 3rd after 1 out, the Reds loaded the bases thanks to a Cruz error and Keller hitting a batter, then walking another one. Keller struck out the next 2 batters to keep the Reds from getting back in the game. The Pirates added 3 more runs and the Reds made it somewhat interesting, but the Pirates handily evened the series.

Next Game: This afternoon, Reds in Cincinnati. Somebody please tell Derek Shelton that there is a day off tomorrow and nobody needs a rest. McCutchen seemed to hurt himself on his last at bat, but that should be the only player who might not play. The Pirates need this win heading to Atlanta.