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Pirates Morning Report: Back To Normal, Pitchers Win Another One

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cardinals 1

Why The Pirates Won: Both teams’ offenses were pretty much nonexistent. The difference was the Cardinals gave the Pirates one of their runs. Pirate pitching was dominant again. Carmen Mlodzinski had command issues that the Cardinals failed to take advantage of. The bullpen in the last 6 innings only gave up one hit. Bubba Chandler had another excellent 4-inning outing. He gave up 1 hit and walked one. He managed to get his first major league win. Isaac Mattson had one of the most effective innings of the year. He threw 8 pitches, 7 of which were strikes, to get 3 quick outs in the 8th. Dennis Santana walked a batter with 2 outs in the 9th. The game ended on a weird little line drive. It took a crazy hop. Nick Gonzales had to barehand it to throw out the batter. The Pirate offense only had 3 hits. The AAA boys went 0 for 6 with 2 walks. Seven of the nine starters did not get a hit. Somehow, the Pirates pulled out the win. They are now 2-1 on the road trip.

Key Moments Of The Game: Mlodzinski had given up a run on 2 hits and 2 walks through 2 innings. The Cardinals ran into an out in the 2nd, or they might have scored more. He started the 3rd by striking out Nathan Church. He walked his third batter of the game. Ivan Herrera singled to right, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Mlodzinski struck out Alec Burleson on 5 pitches. It was the out of the game. He finished the inning by striking out Willson Contreras. With the play he made at first base in the 6th inning, the Cardinals probably wish he had started serving his suspension. Going into the top of the 6th, the Pirates had gotten only one hit off Sonny Gray. IKF had the hit and made it 2 with a line drive double. Jared Triolo walked. Spencer Horwitz hit a ground ball right to Contreras. It looked like he was about to start a 3-6-3 double play. With the lead-footed Horwitz running, it should have been a sure thing. Suddenly, Contreras changed his mind. He tried to flip the ball to Sonny Gray, who was not even looking at him. He was expecting a throw from 2nd base. Everybody was safe, and the Pirates had the bases loaded. After a force out at the plate, Tommy Pham drilled the first pitch up the middle for a single. He drove in 2 runs with the hit. If the double play is performed, the Pirates probably don’t score at all. Hopefully, the Cardinals don’t miss the playoffs by one game.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Cardinals in St. Louis. It looks like Braxton Ashcraft will be going for the Pirates today. The Pirates could use a win this afternoon. They will be going up against three teams that are most likely playoff-bound: the Red Sox in Boston and the Dodgers and Brewers at home. The Pirates will get to see what they are made of these next two weeks. Will they be competitive? After all, that is what Derek Shelton wanted. Who really cares about winning? Let’s just hope we can give them a game.

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Pirates Morning Report: Nice Bounce Back Win

Final Score: Pirates 8 Cardinals 3

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates started off with a bang. The first six batters got on base and the Pirates quickly had a 4-0 lead. Henry Davis hit a sacrifice fly to top off a 5 run 1st inning. The Pirates added 2 in the second on some loose Cardinal defense. In the top of the 3rd Henry Davis hit a solo home run to end the scoring. The AAA boys continue to have success going 4 for 12 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Of course the Pirate offense limped home in the last 6 innings getting 3 hits. They struck out 11 times including 5 straight outs in the 8th and 9th. Mitch Keller pitched well. He gave up 3 runs and 3 hits over 6 innings. It can be tough pitching with a big lead, but Keller got the job done. The bullpen shut the Cardinals down the rest of the way. The Pirates had a nice easy road win.

Key Moments Of The Game: After the Pirates put up 5 runs in the 1st, the Cardinals got two hard-hit singles with one out in the 1st, which created a sense of hope among their fans. Wilson Contreras hit a hard ground ball. It went right at Jared Triolo. Triolo made a nice play to end the inning with a double play, dousing the Cardinals’ momentum. If the Cardinals could have had a quick bounce-back inning, it may have made a difference in the overall atmosphere of the game, giving them the confidence they needed to close the gap. The score was 8-2 going into the bottom of the 6th. Keller started the inning by walking a batter and later hitting another. The Pirates traded 3 ground outs for a run, showing their ability to execute even in less-than-ideal situations. The Cardinals never threatened again after that, and their inability to capitalize on earlier opportunities continued to haunt them. The series is tied at a game apiece.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Carmen Mlodzinski will start for the Pirates. This will be a semi-bullpen game depending on how well Mlodzinski does. For whatever reason, the offense has come alive in St. Louis. Despite this, we are still well entrenched in last place in runs scored. Among teams with an equal number of games, the Pirates are 30 runs behind the next worst team. This is how bad this offense has been. In a nutshell, they have no power. They are last in home runs and slugging. It was a nice win last night, no question about it. You feel that they must win these next two in St. Louis if they are going to have any chance of playing close to .500 ball over the next 11 games.

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Pirates Morning Report: 136 Yard Golf Shot For Walk Off Cardinal Win

Final Score: Pirates 6 Cardinals 7

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates only allowed Johan Oviedo to go 4 innings even though he was pitching well. He had thrown only 53 pitches. They allowed Andrew Heaney to throw 31 pitches even though he was pitching poorly. The rest of the bullpen hung tough. However, Alec Burleson golfed a 136-yard wedge shot over the center field wall. This gave the Cardinals a 7-6 walk-off win. The Pirates scored 6 runs. The Cardinals tried to help them out. The Pirates committed baserunning gaffes. At times they got away with them thanks to the Cardinals’ poor defense. The Pirates were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. At first glance, you would have to say it was a good offensive day for the Pirates. As you will see, the Pirates should have scored 9 or 10 runs, but they do not understand baseball. They are a team that is very lackluster and just playing out the string. That is enough in my mind not to extend Don Kelly into next season. If this is all the effort the Pirates can put into playing the game, then it is clear the manager must take the blame. Somebody needs to tell the players not every team is as bad as the Rockies.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the first inning, the Pirates had 2nd and 3rd with 1 out and could only score 1 run. Both Horwitz and Pham had lousy at-bats. Horwitz swung at a ball low and outside to ground out. Pham took 2 strikes right down the middle. In the second inning, the Pirates had 1st and 2nd with no outs. Bart struck out, taking two called strikes. Peguero grounded into a double play after taking a called strike. In the top of the 7th, the Pirates had the bases loaded and nobody out, thanks to Cardinals’ misplays. Ronny Simon swung at two pitches that were in the dirt to strike out. Nick Gonzales hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run. Bryan Reynolds struck out, swinging at a ball in the dirt. Simon told him how to do it. In the top of the 8th, Tommy Pham walked. Jared Triolo hit a little blooper into left-center field. The ball bounded away, but Pham could only make it to 2nd. No hustle, no effort. Andrew McCutchen swung at an inside pitch on a 3-1 count and grounded into an inning-ending double play. In the 9th, the Pirates saved the worst for last. With one out Simon doubled home the tying run. When Gonzales hit a ball back to the pitcher he tried to go to third base. He was thrown out by forty feet. The third baseman had a birthday waiting for Simon to get to the tag. All of this enabled the Cardinals to walk it off in the 9th.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Mister Average Major League pitcher Mitch Keller will go for the Pirates. Maybe it is better that the Pirates can’t really hit. That way they do not show how bad they are at running the bases. I am sure no one will pay for all the base running and batting blunders last night. That is not just the Pirates’ way. Accountability is a four-letter word.

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Pirates Morning Report: Skenes Dominates, Pirates Sweep Rockies

Final Score: Pirates 4 Rockies 0

Why The Pirates Won: In 27 innings the Rockies scored 1 run. Yesterday it was Paul Skenes who put a hurtin on the Rockies. He went 7 innings giving up 3 hits. He struck out 7 while walking 0. The Mattson and Santana duo finished up allowing a hit and a walk. The Pirates had the one big inning and it was enough. Jarod (I Made An Adjustment That Won’t Work Next Year) Triolo had the big hit. He hit a 2 out 3 run homer in the bottom of the 4th to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead. They added another run with a Henry Davis walk. He stole 2nd. IKF then laced a double to center to score Davis. The Pirates would only get one hit the rest of the game but the damage had been done. Thanks to Triolo the AAA boys were 2 for 8 with 3 RBI’s and 2 walks. It was a nice win as the Pirates head into a tough stretch of games

Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the 3rd two replay calls went against the Rockies. Braxton Fulford was ruled safe on a ground ball to Triolo. This was after a single by Kyle Karros. It looked like the Rockies were going to have 1st and 2nd with no outs. The Pirates challenged and the call was overturned. Then Skenes picked the runner off second. The Rockies challenged. They lost the challenge. The inning quickly went from 2 on and no outs to 2 outs and nobody on. Skenes struck out the next batter to end the inning. The Pirates had the 4 run 4th. The Rockies never threatened again getting only one other runner in scoring position.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. In the next 13 games the Pirates play all playoff contenders with the Cardinals the only team under .500. If the Pirates win 6 or 7 games I will be surprised. They will need at least a split with the Cardinals if that has any chance of happening. They finally feasted on a bad team. Even with the sweep they ended up 4-5 against the Rockies and the White Sox. We will see what they can do against the big boys.

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Pirates Morning Report: McCutchen, Pitching Stay Hot

Final Score: Pirates 5 Rockies 1

Why The Pirates Won: The pitching staff shutout the Rockies for another 8 and 2/3 innings before surrendering a run. Mike Burrows went 4 innings giving up 2 hits and a walk. He was taken out even though he had thrown just 57 pitches. Carmen Mlodzinski, Kyle Nicolas, and even Colin Holderman did a nice job the next 4 innings. They gave up only 2 hits. Yohan Ramirez got the first two outs of the 9th. He gave up a home run and the shutout was lost. The 5 Pirate pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts. The offense was led by Andrew McCutchen and the AAA boys. McCutchen hit a 2 run homer in the 2nd. Jared Triolo did the same in the 3rd. The AAA boys went 4 for 8 for the game. Two of them are now hitting over .200. This is the 3rd straight year that Triolo has hit well in August and September. If you want a player to hit big in meaningless games, he is your guy.

Key Moments Of The Game: The top of the 2nd was Burrow’s only shaky inning. The Rockies had 1st and 3rd with 2 out. Yanquiel Fernandez hit a weak roller down the 3rd base line. IKF made a nice play and threw him out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 2nd the Pirates opened with a bang. Pham a line drive single. McCutchen line drive home run right down the left field line for a quick 2-0 lead. The bottom of the 3rd opened the same way. IKF a single, followed by a 404 foot blast by none other than Jared Triolo. The Pirates led 4-0. They were not threatened the rest of the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rockies in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are on Roku TV today so I don’t know how much of the game I will see today. Paul Skenes is going today as the Pirates go for the much needed sweep. The AAA boys should be out in full force today. I expect to see at least 3 play. They have been on a bit of a roll lately. It still does not change the fact that they stink. There is no chance that any of them are really going to help the Pirates make the playoffs someday.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Double Their Pleasure

Final Score: Pirates 9 Rockies 0

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates shutout the Rockies with the double pitching performance of Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler. Ashcraft went 5 innings giving up just 1 hit. He struck out 6, walked 1 while throwing only 65 pitches. Chandler went the last 4 giving up 2 hits. He struck out 3, walking no one while throwing just 40 pitches. For a change the Pirates gave offensive support to such great pitching. They had 7 doubles and 3 players doubled their doubles by hitting home runs. Spencer Horwitz, Tommy Pham and hold on to your hats, Alexander Canario all went yard. The AAA boys had quite the game. They went 5 for 12. Jared Triolo has pulled his average up to .199. The pressure will be enormous for him the next game. Overall it was nice to see them bury the Rockies.

Key Moments Of The Game: Andrew McCutchen had the big hits early that got the Pirates rolling. In the bottom of the first he had a 2 out double that made the score 2-0. In the bottom of the second, back to back doubles by IKF and Horwitz made the score 3-0. McCutchen came up with runners on 1st and 3rd and 2 outs. He delivered another double and the Pirates led 5-0. Without those 2 big 2 out hits you never know how the game might have gone. The Pirates went long ball after that to win going away 9-0.

Next Game: Tonight, Rockies in Pittsburgh. After having some shaky outings previously Mike Burrows had a nice outing against the Cubs giving up 1 run over 5 innings. Even though the bullpen is well rested it would be nice to see Burrows throw 80 to 90 pitches if he is effective. It would also be nice to see the Pirates sweep the Rockies. They have a tough stretch over the next 13 games. The Cardinals on the road who are just so so. Then the Red Sox in Boston and the Dodgers and Brewers at home. If they go 6-7 during that stretch it will be a miracle.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Positive Report

I admit, this was a tough one. Let’s start with the man that the fans and media feel the most negative about, Ben Cherington. Two years ago he picked Paul Skenes over Dylan Crews. I for one thought he should have picked Crews. Boy, was I wrong. It’s too early to put Crews in the same category as Henry Davis but he has not produced at the MLB level. He has had some injuries but his slash line in 196 plate appearances is .209/.280/.360 for an OPS+ of 81. Last year he picked Konnor Griffin in the first round. At 19 years of age he is the no.1 prospect in all of baseball. He is in AA where he seems to be making the adjustment fine, getting 3 hits last night. Tremar Johnson who just turned 21 in June is doing better lately. In AA his line is .267/.347/.393 with 9 homers and 31 RBI’s.

The Pirate’ pitching staff is above league average in every important pitching stat except strike outs. I believe the Pirates should keep the pitching staff intact. The Pirates need offensive help but not as much as you think. If the Pirates had scored 4 runs in every game their record would be 68-60 at the moment. They would be right in the wild card hunt. Their league worse average is 3.51 per game. Scoring 4 runs per game would move them to 25th. This is just a half a run a game. They could easily do this in the free agent market. I do not see the need to weaken a strength.

Finally, the Pirates have 8 players whose OPS+ is between 99 and 91. This 1 to 9% below league average. Even though they have no one above league average it is the most they have had above 90. There are 34 games to go. If some of these players get hot the offense may have a nice stretch run. Of course these 8 players have to play. This blog is supposed to be all positive so I won’t mention who could be standing in their way.

Well there it is, a positive Pirate blog. I did my best. The Pirates open a 3 game series against the Rockies tonight. I have a feeling things will be back to normal tomorrow. I could be wrong and they might sweep the Rockies. If that happens there could be more positive blogs in the future. It would be a nice change.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pitching Staff Wins Another One

Final Score: Pirates 2 Blue Jays 1

Why The Pirates Won: The pitching staff was able to shut down one of the better hitting teams in baseball. They did it in a big way. Johan Oviedo went 5 innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits. He struck out 6 walking 1. The bullpen was even better going the last 4 innings. They gave up one hit and no walks. The Pirates eked out 2 runs in the first and they held up for the rest of the game. The AAA boys contributed nothing. They went 1 for 10 with a walk. They struck out 5 times. In the last 5 innings the Blue Jays sent only 16 men to the plate thanks to a double play ball. They were only able to get 3 men in scoring position for the game. The Pirate’s pitchers won this one.

Key Moments Of The Game: George Springer opened the game with a home run. In the bottom of the first Ronny Simon and Nick Gonzales struck out. Bryan Reynolds doubled on a soft liner down the left field line. Spencer Horwitz drew a 5 pitch walk. Tommy Pham ripped one down the left line for a double and surprisingly Horwitz scored from first base to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. There would have been more key moments if the Pirates had lost this one. The Pirates missed scoring opportunities in the 5th, 6th, and 7th. They had 8 hits to go along with 4 walks. They could only score the 2 runs. This time it did not cost them a win.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Rockies in Pittsburgh. I am going to do something very difficult tomorrow. I am going to try and write a positive blog about the Pirates. I can’t guarantee that I can do it but I am going to give it 100% effort. It will be quite a challenge.

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Pirates Morning Report: Mitch Keller, Consistently Inconsistent

Final Score: Pirates 3 Blue Jays 7

Why The Pirates Lost: Mitch Keller had a really bad outing. His control was lousy. He walked 3 and hit a batter. He got hit a lot. He gave up 5 runs on 7 hits including a home run. He threw 85 pitches in 3 and 1/3 innings. As usual the Pirates broadcast booth got it all wrong. They gave his overall stats for his last 6 outings, which are horrible. What they failed to mentioned is that two of those starts were pretty good. One was 5 and 2/3 innings giving up 2 runs. The other, 6 innings giving up 3 runs. Over the last 4 years his ERA+ has ranged from 106 to 98. Keller has shown over the years he can be very good or very bad. The perfect definition of consistently inconsistent. Really what difference does it make with that offense. They did manage 3 runs. WOW! They were 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position. The AAA boys were 2 for 7 with an RBI and 3 strikeouts. I will admit, the Blue Jays did flash some impressive leather especially center fielder Myles Straw. The bottom line is that the Pirate’s batters can’t control the strike zone. Therefore they stink.

Key Moment Of The Game: The score was 5-0 going into the bottom of the 2nd. Max Scherzer did not get some borderline calls and walked the first two batters of the inning. Joey Bart got an infield hit to load the bases. Up steps Jared AAA Triolo with no baseball awareness. He swings at 3 straight pitches out of the strike zone to strikeout. Great at bat Dead Tree. IKF grounds out to score a run. Ronny (Can I Please DH Since I Can’t Field) Simon popped out to end the inning. It was a golden opportunity to get back in the game. It would be their last.

Next game: In about 3 hours, Blue Jays in Pittsburgh. Johan Oviedo is going to get his 2nd start. Let’s hope he can go more than one inning. The Pirate offense continues to amaze. The offense is now 29 runs behind the 29th place Rockies. Despite some mild resurgence none of the AAA boys are hitting over .200. Will all 4 get to play today. I can hardly wait.

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Pirates Morning Report: Thank You Blue Jays Plus A Miracle

Just a note before I get into the game. The blog will be coming from San Diego. Unlike Pittsburgh a city that is lucky enough to have a Major League Baseball team. Thus the blog will be more mid morning in the eastern time zone.

Final Score: Pirates 5 Blue Jays 2

Why The Pirates Won: This game was gifted to them by the Blue Jays. They made 3 errors. They wild pitched a run in. They walked 6 Pirates. This included walking Jarod Triolo 3 times, say what? There were 2 miracles in the game. Alexander Canario got a hit AND an RBI. It was his 14th of the season. Henry Davis had an RBI to stay 2 ahead of Canario. What a tandem. Paul Skenes was not great but solid going 6 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 6 hits. More importantly he struck out 8 against a team that does not strike out much. The bullpen finished up the game nicely giving up 1 hit while adding 3 strikeouts.

Key Moments Of The Game: Despite the Blue Jays generosity the Pirates had to look like the Pirates. Twice they had a runner on third base with one out and could not bring him home. The big moment of the game came in the top of the 8th. Kyle (Hold Your Breath) Nicolas came into the game. George Springer opened with an infield single to deep short. Nicolas got ahead of the next hitter Addison Barger 0 and 2. Four pitches later it was 3 and 2. On a four seam fastball, pretty much right down the middle, he grounded into a double play. Ty France hit a 100 MPH line drive that Canario somehow caught to end the inning. In the bottom of the eighth the Blue Jays went Keystone Cops mode giving the Pirates 2 more runs. Thank you Blue Jays for taking pity on the Pirates and their fans.

Next Game: Tonight, Blue Jays in Pittsburgh. Max Scherzer goes for the Blue Jays tonight. The Pirates are sending out Mitch Keller. The AAA boys had a pretty good game last night. They went 2 for 8 with 2 RBI’s. They walked 3 times and scored 3 of the 5 Pirates runs. How many will play tonight. Could it be possible that we could get all 4 in one game. We could return the favor to the Blue Jays and just give game 2 away. Playing all 4 would be a good start.