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Pirates Morning Report: It’s Hard To Break The Oviedo Jinx

Final Score: Pirates 3 Padres 2

Why The Pirates Won: In a game where hits were hard to come by, 5 for the Pirates, 4 for the Padres, the Pirates hit 3 of theirs out of the park to score 3 runs. Johan Oviedo, even with shaky control, walking 3, hitting a batter, and giving up 3hits, managed to hold the Padres to 1 run over the 6 innings of work. The bullpen was flawless in the 7th and 8th innings retiring 6 in a row. The home runs were hit by Ji Man Choi, Bryan Reynolds, and Carlos Santana. The win enabled the Pirates to have a .500 road trip record of 3-3. It broke a streak of not winning a game that Oviedo started since June 5th. It was Oviedo’s first win since May 12th. It did not come easy.

The Key Moments Of The Game: Carlos Santana hit a home run in the top of the 9th inning to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead and that insurance run was the difference in the game. In the bottom of the 9th David Bednar came in for the save and struck out Manny Machado on 6 pitches with 5 of them strikes. Xander Bogaerts had what could have been considered a lethal at bat getting a 12-pitch walk. A single and a hit batsmen loaded the bases with one out. The Padres sent up Juan Soto to pinch hit. Bednar never threw him a strike and he never swung, and the score went to 3-2 with the bases still loaded. Taylor Kohlwey on the second pitch hit a weak pop up to the third baseman. That left Trent Grisham who swung, and foul tipped a third strike right into the mitt of Endy Rodriguez. With that the Pirates won the series, had a .500 road trip, and broke the Oviedo jinx.

The Next Game: Tomorrow, Phillies in Pittsburgh. The Pirates will play 12 out of the next 16 games at home but the competition is tough. They play the Phillies and Tigers at home, then go on a brief 4 game road trip against the Brewers and finish up with 4 against the Braves and 3 against the Reds at home. With the exception of the Tigers, all of these teams are at least 8 games above .500 and in playoff contention. This stretch of games will finish up on Aug. 13. If the Pirates are going to salvage anything of this season, this is the time to do it. Winning 13 out of 16 games would put them right back in the mix. Baseball can be a funny game. We will see if the Pirates can play a big joke on the rest of the league.

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Pirates Morning Report: He Was UP To No Good

Final Score: Pirates 1 Padres 5

Why The Pirates Lost: The bats went cold, and the brain went dead as far as the Pirate offense was concerned. Rich Hill only gave up 2 runs but could only go 4 and 1/3 innings. He had his at them ball going and would have had the key moment of the game, if the Pirates knew not to swing at balls. The bullpen gave up the final 3 runs on home runs to send the Pirates 13 games below .500. This game was marred by Angel Perdomo throwing deliberately at Manny Machado, after Juan Soto had just blasted a home run off of him. I guess he did not like Soto’s antics after he hit the home run, but let’s face it, that is just part of the game now, and really does no harm. I may not be a fan of it, but this is what it is today. The first pitch to Machado was a 98 MPH fastball that hit him in the upper back, way too close to the head. To the umpire’s credit, after a brief discussion, they tossed Perdomo from the game. If the Pirates management had any testicles at all, they would immediately send him down to AA. Hopefully he may get a suspension. Simply put, Perdomo is a disgrace to the game.

Key Moment Of The Game: This key moment is one of the most painful to write about in the entire season. Going into the top of the 5th with the score 2-1 Padres, Blake Snell was pitching one of his most efficient games of the season. In the 5th the normal Snell was about to appear. After one out he issues a 6 pitch walk to Nick Gonzales. He issues another 6 pitch walk to Liover Peguero. Then of all things, Austin Hedges gets an infield single on a little dribbler to the shortstop area. Now, the Pirates have the bases loaded and one out. He throws 2 balls to Connor Joe that are not close to the strike zone. On the third pitch Joe must have looking for something around the ankles because he swung at it. Instead of it being 3-0 it is now 2-1. Now he takes a pitch for a strike. Then he swings at a pitch that was thrown in the dirt. Great at bat Connor Joe. Snell threw 5 pitches to Bryan Reynolds with only one pitch even being remotely in the strike zone, but Reynolds strikes out anyway. If the Pirates had stood there with their bats on their shoulders, they would have had 2 runs. I will never make fun of Daniel Vogelbach again even though he stinks.

Next Game: This afternoon, Padres in San Diego. Well, the Pirates need a win today to have that .500 road trip. With Johan (I Find Some Way To Lose Every Time) Oviedo pitching, it will be highly unlikely that this will happen. It would be nice just to see fundamental baseball played again. I don’t think the Pirates have it in them to do it.

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Pirates Morning Report: Let’s Hear It For The Old Guy

Final Score: Pirates 8 Padres 4

Why The Pirates Won: Two words, Carlos Santana. He went 3 for 4 with 2 home runs, a double, a walk, and drove in 4 runs. Liover Peguero didn’t have a bad night either, going 2 for 4 with a home run and drove in 3 runs. Overall, the Pirates scored 8 runs on 13 hits and 6 walks. Quinn Priester pitched an ok 5 and 1/3 innings giving up 3 runs on 4 hits, giving up 3 walks while striking out 4. He got charged with a 4th run thanks to Ryan Borucki’s incompetence. Not a great outing but far better than his first one. The bullpen shut down the Padres the rest of the with Colin Holderman pitching the 9th inning and actually having a clean inning. It’s amazing what a 4 run lead can do.

The Key Moment Of The Game: Going into the top of the 3rd the Pirates were trailing 1-0 when with one out Jack Suwinski hit his 21st home run of the season to tie the game. After Bryan Reynolds struck out, Andrew McCutchen worked a 7 pitch walk. Carlos Santana took a full count slider and knocked it into the seats and the Pirates led 3-1. It was one of the biggest hits the Pirates have had in a long time. It seemed to give them momentum and they scored 2 in the 4th and another 3 in the 5th to pretty much seal the deal with an 8-1 lead. The Padres made it a little interesting but really never threatened much in the last 3 innings. They had only 2 at bats with runners in scoring position the entire game.

Next Game: Tonight, Padres in San Diego. Can the Pirates somehow eek out one more win to come away with a .500 road trip. The Pirates are going up against the hottest pitcher in baseball right now in Blake Snell. In his last 85 innings he has an ERA of 1.91 and has struck out 117. The bright spot for the Pirates is that he is not very pitch efficient so he may have 100 pitches by the 5th inning. Rich (You Mean That There’s A Team That Might Want Me) Hill goes for the Pirates. The final oddity of this game is that this could be the last game that both pitchers pitch for their respective teams.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bombs Away

Final Score: Pirates 5 Angels 7

Why The Pirates Loss: Another poor performance by Mitch Keller and the lack of the big hit, did the Pirates in, again. Keller got racked up for 3 home runs, 2 doubles, giving up 6 runs in 5 innings, throwing 101 pitches. The Angels hit 4 home runs for the second time in the series. The Pirate batters while they did score 5 runs were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position, while leaving 8 runners on base. With the exception of the leadoff spot everybody in the lineup got at least one hit. Yes, that does include Austin Hedges. You have to hope that the Jack Suwinski/ Conner Joe leading off experiment will end soon. It is not working. The Pirates had a chance to get some momentum on this road trip and failed miserably.

Key Moment Of The Game: Going into the bottom of the fifth it looked like Mitch Keller had righted the ship. Then in 7 pitches he gave up 2 home runs. Then a 4 pitch walk, followed by 2 more balls. His first pitch in the strike zone was hit up the middle into center field for a base hit. This is where he should have been taken out of the game. His next pitch in the strike zone was hit into right field for a base hit and the score was now 5 to 1. He had thrown 3 out of 10 pitches in the strike zone and they were all swung on for hits, a home run and two singles. Talk about not fooling anyone. Two fly balls later, another run had scored, and it was 6-1 Angels. The bullpen gave up another home run to make it 7-1. The Pirates made it interesting but could not get the big hit to tie the game.

Next Game: Tonight, Padres in San Diego. Quinn Priester makes his 2nd big league start tonight and while I am hoping he does well, if he doesn’t, I will not be too concerned. For whatever reason he always seems to get off to a slow start when he goes up a level. The Pirates will need to take 2 out of 3 from the underachieving Padres if they want to have a .500 road trip. When is the next bullpen game? With the way the starting pitching is going, maybe they should all be bullpen games.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bullpenning To Victory Again

Final Score: Pirates 3 Angels 0

Why The Pirates Won: It was a bullpen game, and the bullpen held the Angels to 5 hits, while walking 3 and hitting 2 batters. The Angels loaded the bases twice, once with nobody out, but failed to score. The Pirate bats weren’t great, but when you shutout the other team, they don’t have to be. Endy Rodriguez hit his first career home run to give the Pirates their final score to win 3-0. It was nice to see Bryan Reynolds get a couple of hits and one of those brought in the first Pirate run. Bednar came in the 9th to get the save, but had a rare bout of control issues, walking 2 and hitting a batter to load the bases with one out. The next batter hit into a very nice 1-2-3 double play and the Pirates are 1-1 on this road trip.

The Key Moment Of The Game: It was still scoreless going into the bottom of the 4th inning with Osvaldo Bido pitching for the Pirates. The Angels loaded the bases on a single, a walk, and another single with nobody out. This took only 10 pitches. This brought up left hand hitting catcher Matt Thais to the plate. He worked the count out to 3-2 on 7 pitches. The 8th pitch he rocketed out at 106 MPH but right at Nick Gonzales. He quickly flipped the ball to shortstop Liover Peguero, and the Pirates had a very fortunate double play. Bido struck out Hunter Renfro on 3 pitches, getting the Pirates out of the inning. The Pirates scored their first two runs in the top of the 5th for a 2-0 lead that they protected the rest of the game. Rodriguez’s home run added the third run giving the Pirates a 3-0 victory.

Next Game: This Afternoon, Angels in Anaheim. Let’s hope the Mitch Keller can bounce back from his last awful performance. I think the odds are good since the Pirates did not decide to give him another 10 day rest between starts. I did not think the odds were good that we would see the so called rubber match in the series. A win today and the .500 road trip will be suddenly looking good.

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Golf Diary

Round: Played South Park Score 79 Greens In Reg. 7 Putts 32

The Good: I drove the ball pretty well. The weather was beautiful.

The Bad: The iron game was bad. The short game and putting were pretty horrid. I had one long putt from off the green that went in for a birdie on the 2nd hole but I failed to get it up and down the other 10 times. I made a long birdie putt on the 11th hole and another one of about 8 feet on 10 for 3 birdies on the day. Other than that, my putting was not good. But the short game was the culprit today for the high 70 score, 0 for 10, just like most of the Pirates. I was doing all sorts of things today trying to find something that would work and nothing could really get me going.

The Luck Of The Round: Made two long putts and I always feel that has to be a little luck. Never really had any bad luck today. It’s not that I often that I make 3 birdies, but I could not do the basic things that you need to do in order to score.

The Next Round: Tomorrow, Beaver Valley Golf Course.

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Pirates Morning Report: I Thought The Home Run Derby Was Over

Final Score: Pirates 5 Angels 8

Why The Pirates Lost: Each team hit 4 home runs, but thanks to walks and a strikeout on a wild pitch, the Angels’ home runs drove in 7 runs, compared to 5 for the Pirates. The Pirates did not get a hit with runners in scoring position. Oviedo pitched well for 3 innings but then his old nemesis, the walk and home run ball contributed to his undoing. Out of 75 pitches he only threw 23 fastballs. One of them did get hit out of the park for the 5th run, but other than that they did not get a hit off his fastball. I really do not know why he does not throw it more. He did seem to lack some velocity last night with only one pitch topping 96 MPH. The bullpen gave up the other 3 runs, all on home runs. Henry Davis hit a couple of home runs and raised his average to .295. Another bad pitching day for the Pirates as two big innings were enough to give the Angels the win while only getting 6 hits. Pirate staff did issue 6 walks which really came back to haunt them.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates had hit 2 home runs in the top of the 4th inning to take a 2-0 lead. Oviedo had not given up a hit in the first 3 innings with one walk. Then boom, walk, double, walk and 3 run home run, and before you knew it the Angels were ahead 4-2. Two outs later, another home run and it was 5-2. In the bottom of the 5th, Jose Hernandez just coming off the IL, got lit up for 2 more home runs making the score 8-4 and the game was over.

Next Game: Tonight, Angels in Anaheim. The Pirate offense showed some pop last night hitting those 4 home runs, but it was to no avail. The pitching was bad last night, which it has been for about a month now. The Angels seem to be getting hot right now which does not bode well for the Pirates. Maybe .500 road trip was too much to expect. Time will tell.

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Pirates Morning Report: Trade Deadline and Other Things

The trade deadline, everywhere you go, you read about the trade deadline. I have never understood the high interest in this, and all the speculation of what is going to happen. In the long run most of it does not happen. I do not expect to see much activity from the Pirates. Names that are mentioned are Rich Hill, Carlos Santana, Ji Man Choi, Rodolfo Castro, Tucupita Marcano, and Ji Hwan Bae. One name you do not see mentioned is Ke’Bryan Hayes who I think is the best trade chip the Pirates have. Austin Hedges may be a possibility, also. I suppose the Pirates could make a few moves, but I do not see anything earth shattering happening. I would not be that surprised if the Pirates do not make one single trade. I love seeing trades and I will be following deadline day as much as anybody, but I do not pay attention to all the pre-trade talk.

At the beginning of the season, I felt the Pirates would be playing meaningful games in August. Unless the Pirates win almost all of their games the rest of this month, that is not going to happen. This is not going to be a major analysis of the season so far, but a short version of what went wrong. Injuries played a big role in the Pirates downfall. Managements lack of motivation to replace the injured players with some quality was another factor. The surprising regression of Roansy Contreras, Luis Ortiz, Rudolfo Castro, and Ji Hwan Bae from their 2022 performances. Granted Bae’s was a small sample size but he has not come close to what he did in 10 games in 2022. After getting off to a good start, the bullpen has struggled mightily. Derek Shelton’s in game decisions have left a lot to be desired. There are other factors but the bottom line is the Pirates are back in last place in July and just playing out the string. The one good thing is management has brought the young players up and it will be fun to see what they can do. You never know there could be a few positive surprises left in this season, but I do not think it will be at the trade deadline.

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Pirates Morning Report: Stop The Presses The Pirates Won

Final Score: Pirates 7 Guardians 5

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates finally had some breaks go their way in the pivotal 7th inning. They did hit better scoring 7 runs on 9 hits while collecting 4 walks. They were 5 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Rich Hill pitched his typical mediocre game giving up 4 runs on 8 hits, walking 1, striking out 1, in 5 and 2/3 innings. I can’t imagine any team really wanting this guy or giving up any highly rated prospects in return. Time will tell if there is some team that is really desperate. This was an afternoon game and after I got home from the golf course, I watched the game which I taped. I listened to most of the broadcast, and I am glad that I roll through a game quickly when it is at night so I can get to the blog. For some reason the producer of the game must think that it is more interesting listening to three individuals discussing hitting than the game itself. It is sooooooooooooooooooooo boring listening to those three droning on and on about how to hit. Meanwhile there is a lot going on in the game that they just ignore. Let me give you a big tip AT&T, if you want to create interest in your broadcasts take a listen to the San Diego Padre broadcast team as they go through the nuances of what is going down on the field, pitch by pitch. I get to listen to them when I am out in San Diego, and it is pure joy. No fast forwarding when that duo is on the air.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the 7th the Pirates put 5 runs on the board to go from a 4-2 deficit to a 7-4 lead. There were three huge plays in the inning. The Endy Rodriguez bloop single with one out to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Connor Joe got an infield single to load the bases. That brought up the laboring Bryan Reynolds. It looked like he grounded into an inning ending double play. The Pirates challenged both outs at 2nd and 1st and the Reynolds’s out call was overturned. It was so close that I felt they could have let the call stand. Instead of the inning being over, the Pirates had a run in, with runners on first and third with two outs. Carlos Santans drew a 6 pitch walk, after being behind in the count 1-2. For the final big play of the inning, Ji Man Choi lined a 1-1 pitch into right field to give the Pirates the lead 5-4. One walk later, Jared(I’m The Real Reason Hayes Is Unhappy In Pittsburgh) Triolo lined a single to left to score 2 more insurance runs that the Pirates would eventually need. The Pirates won 7-5 with Bednar closing out the win and the losing streak was over.

Next Game: Friday night, Angels in Anaheim. The Pirates embark on another western trip playing 3 against the Angels and 3 against the Padres. I feel they have a decent chance of playing .500 ball on this road trip. Both the Angels and Padres are in disarray for various reasons. It was a nice comeback win yesterday and there is a chance that the Pirates may feed off of it to get on a little bit of a run. Another week of late night baseball, with a couple of afternoon games thrown in. The late night games would be so much more tolerable with a few wins.

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Pirates Morning Report: This Is What Happens When You Don’t Let Your Ace Pitch For 10 Days

Final Score: Pirates 1 Guardians 10

Why The Pirates Lost: Mitch Keller got knocked around right out of the box as Guardians scored 5 runs in the first inning, with 4 of them scoring before an out was recorded. In fact, it took only 7 pitches for the Guardians to score the 4 runs. Why the Pirates did not pitch Keller sooner after the All Star break, I would have no idea. What rationale could they possibly have? He only pitched 1 inning in the All Star game, which was last Tuesday. He should have pitched either Saturday or Sunday this past weekend. In 6 innings of “work” he gave up 8 runs on 10 hits, walking 2, and only striking out 1. Do you think he was rusty? Another blowout loss for the Pirates as they did manage to score 1 run, which does avoid them from being shut out in an entire series like the Reds. They only managed 5 hits as their hitting woes continue. They have won only 2 games in July. This is one hell of a massive team slump in every phase of the game. This team is going to have to dig deep to come out of this to even look respectable the rest of the season.

Key Moment Of The Game: Another blowout loss where there was no key moment of the game. You could say the key moment of this game was Saturday or Sunday when Keller did not start either one of those games. It makes you wonder if Keller didn’t or still has some kind of hush hush injury that would make them delay him starting a game. In fact, even two days ago the starting pitcher for last night’s game was to be determined. It does make you wonder, doesn’t it?

Next Game: This afternoon, Guardians in Pittsburgh. Rich Hill goes today to see if he can stop this slide. Yes, the pitching has been horrible in this series but again the Pirates’ bats have gone completely silent. They better get those I pads cranked up because it looks pretty hopeless at this point in the season.