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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: Holy Shitballs The Pirates Beat The Braves.

Final Score: Pirates 8 Braves 4

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates simply out hit the Braves. In both the 3rd and the 5th innings the Pirates scored 3 runs on 4 hits. Bryan Reynolds who had a big night hit a 2 run home run to highlight the 3rd and Jack Suwinski singled in the 2nd run in the 5th, stole 2nd, which enabled him to score the 3rd run of the inning on the Ji Hwan Bae single with 2out. The Pirates took a 6-3 lead in the 5th and added a run in the 6th and 9th to win going away. Johan Oviedo pitched 4 innings giving up 3 runs on 9 hits and a walk. He was lucky that the damage was not worse. Oviedo pissed off Ronald Acuna Jr. when he pitched inside and almost hit Acuna about waist high. Acuna should have realized that Oviedo has no idea where the ball is going and probably couldn’t hit him even if he wanted too. The bullpen pitched 4 and 2/3 innings giving up only 1 run, on 3 hits, all given up by Carmen Mlodzinski. It was a shocking win by the Pirates, on par with the Miracle on Ice in the 1980 Olympics.

The Key Moment Of The Game: Going into the bottom of the 4th inning the Pirates held a 3-1 lead with Oviedo on the mound. The Braves got a single sandwiched between 2 outs. It looked like Oviedo might have an easier inning than the 3 previous ones. But it was not to be, as things went from bad to worse. Oviedo gave up 3 straight singles which tied the game 3-3. Then he promptly hit the next batter to load the bases. In comes Ryan (See, I’m Better Than U Thought I was) Borucki with the bases loaded and two outs to face Matt Olson. I could see the grand slam coming from a mile away. But Borucki got Olson to pop out to the shortstop and the Braves could only get those 2 runs in the inning. From that point on the Pirate bats got smokin hot, and scored the next 4 runs before the Braves added a run on Matt Olson’s home run in bottom of the 7th. The Pirates held them off the rest of the way.

Next Game: This afternoon, Braves in Atlanta. Luis Ortiz is pitching for the Pirates and I expect him to get racked and the Pirates to lose. Of course, I never thought they would win one game and they have. YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!! No matter what happens today the Atlanta series is a resounding success.

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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: Nice Outside Strike, Pirates Get The Call

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 4

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates were able to get to Freddy Peralta in the bottom of the 6th inning, and the Brewers had another bullpen failure, enabling the Pirates to pull out a 5-4 win and take the series. After the sad start by Colin (Don’t Worry I Won’t Be Here Next Year) Selby, giving up 3 runs on one hit, a home run, walking 3, while throwing 35 pitches in just one inning of work, the rest of the bullpen did fine. Colin Holderman had his typical mystifying inning giving up the 4th run to make things quite interesting in the top of the 9th for David Bednar. Everybody got one hit except for Peguero but they were close enough together to bring 5 runs home which was just enough to pull out the victory. Taking 2 out of 3 from the Brewers is no small feat with their pitching staff. The Pirates at least have a little momentum to take to Atlanta. Let’s hope the Braves show some mercy. Would it be too obvious if the Braves picked a position player to start one of the games on the mound. Yes, I guess it would be.

Key Moments Of The Game: With the score 5-3 heading into the top of the 8th, Colin Holderman took the mound. After getting one quick out the fun began. After 3 straight singles none of which were under 95 MPH the Brewers had a run in, runners on 1st and 3rd with just one out. The Brewers decided to pinch hit with slow footed Rowdy Tellez even though he had the same batting average against right handers as the man he pinch-hit for Brice Turang. He promptly hit into an inning ending double play because he is heavy and slow. Thank you, Craig Councell. David Bednar pitched the 9th inning and gave up an opening single. Tyrone Taylor hit a line drive that Connor Joe almost misplayed but was able to reach up and make the grab. Bednar struck out Christian Yelich. This brought up catcher William Contreras. Bednar fell behind 3-0, but 4 pitches later the count was 3-2. The 8th pitch of the bat was clearly outside, but the ump who had dinner reservations at Ruth Chris called strike 3 and the Pirates had won the game. Hallelujah, Sweet Jesus!!!!!!!!!!

Next Game: Friday night, the Braves in Atlanta. After a 6 day rest Mitch Keller with take the hill, probably making this our best chance to win one game from the Braves. If the Braves want to clinch everything real early, they may be super serious about this series. If they are, the Pirates are going down 3 times.

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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: 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.