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Pirates Morning Report: Homestand Off To A Good Start

Final Score: Pirates 4 Reds 1

Why The Pirates Won: Paul Skenes was solid if not spectacular going 6 innings giving up 1 run on 6 hits, walking 1 while striking out 7. Not the most efficient outing as he took 96 pitches to do it. The bullpen was even better giving up only 1 hit and no walks over the last 3 innings. The A team strikes again. The Pirates won the battle of the first inning outscoring the Reds 3-1. Two out lightening struck again in the next inning as McCutchen and Reynolds had back-to-back doubles after 2 were out. That was enough for Skenes and the mighty bullpen. The Reds helped out by getting runners picked off 1st in two consecutive innings, both with no outs at the time.

Key Moment Of The Game: The top of the sixth Skenes did have some struggles. Elly De La Cruz led off the inning with a single. Paul Skenes on a great move picked off Cruz for the first out. Jeimer Candelario hit a sharp 107 MPH liner right at Conner Joe for the 2nd out. Spencer Steer singled to left. Paul Skenes issued his only walk and if not for the pick off the Reds would have had the bases loaded with one out. Skenes got out of the inning on a weak tapper back to the mound and the Reds never really threatened again.

Next Game: Tonight, the Reds in Pittsburgh. Barry Falter starts tonight and again he draws the best pitcher on the Reds in left hander Nick Lodolo. With a left hander going I use to say that was good since that meant Tellez would not play. I am sure he won’t tonight. What I will be curious about is that as long as he on this hot streak will there be a game against a righty that he will not play. All I can is say there better not be. This will be another indication if the Pirate management team is really serious about winning. You know that this streak will not last forever. Can somehow, someway the Pirates get on a roll? I just don’t know. Maybe that pathetic blowout lost to Rockies will turn things around.

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Pirates Morning Report: Surprisingly Easy Win For The Pirates.

Final Score: Pirates 8 Rockies 2

Why The Pirates Won: Josh Fleming, the previously DFA left hander, pitched a solid 4innings, and the Pirates brought back 2 out lightening to score a nice win against the Rockies. It was another bullpen game for the Pirates and this time the B team did ok. Although if Carmen Mlodzinski keeps pitching the way he has been lately he might be graduating to the A team. In his last 7 games he has an ERA of 0.93. The win enabled the Pirates to continue to hang around .500 and move up to a tie for 3rd with the Reds. The offense came alive late, scoring the first 6 runs after two were out including 5 in the top of the 6th to break the game open.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates were leading 1-0 going into the bottom of the 5th and Josh Fleming started the inning to face two left-handed batters. Good strategy but did not work as he gave up singles to both, to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. In came Mlodzinski and in 6 pitches he was out of the jam. On the 4th pitch he got a double play ball and on the 6th pitch a ground out, maintaining the Pirates lead 1-0. In the top of the 6th the Pirates had runners on 2nd and 3rd with two out. Jared (Big Disappointment) Triolo singled in two runs. Jack (I Can’t Believe They Keep Playing Me) Suwinski got a single to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Michael (At Least I Can Field) Taylor had the at bat of the game. He had a 9 pitch at bat where he fell behind in the count 1-2. He fouled off pitches working the count to 3-2 and walked on a pitch that should have been called a strike, which would have ended the inning. That brought up Jason (I Get No Love) Delay, who was making his first start of the season. He lined a ball into the right centerfield gap to clear the bases to break the game open 6-0. The Pirates added 2 more in the 7th and the B squad shakily brought the game home giving up 2 runs on 5 hits but had enough sense not to walk anybody.

Next Game: Tonight, the Reds in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have 12 games left this month, 6 at home and 6 on the road. They have the next 2 Thursdays off and July 1. They play the Reds 6 games, 3 at home and 3 on the road. They play 3 with the Rays at home and 3 with the Braves on the road. If this team is going to be taken seriously, they need to go 8-4 during this stretch. Are you listening Derek (The Shadow) Shelton?

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Pirates Morning Report: Good God, 16-4 To The Rockies

Final Score: Pirates 4 Rockies 16

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates allowed a Rockies team to score 16 runs with a starting lineup that had 5 batters that were not hitting .200. What this game shows is that you cannot build a team by only acquiring low end free agents and pitchers that are on waivers. The Pirates will need a win today in order to have a .500 road trip. Supposedly they are going to have another bullpen game. After last night, good luck with that. The Pirate broadcast booth was gushing over Jared Jones, blaming everything on Coors field, and hoping the Pirates would get on a roll since they have such good pitching, before the onslaught started. By the time the game was over there were two crows sitting in front of them. This game would have been bad enough if this were the Dodgers, Braves or Phillies, but the Rockies??????

Key Moments Of The Game: This was not a key moment but certainly an embarrassing one. Both Gandal and Jones fell asleep at the wheel and the Rockies stole home on a throw back to the pitcher. The Rockies did produce a lot of runs after 2 were out. You have to give them some credit for that. I also did not see them laughing in the dugout, which was quite sporting of them.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rockies in Denver. I put about as much effort in this blog as the Pirates did playing last night. The Pirates have 7 players on the short-term IL. They are dropping like flies. Even though they are playing the Rockies, a win today will be shocking. This team may get on a roll all right, but I think it will be called a slump. My only hope is that sometimes in the world of sports a blowout loss or win will have the opposite effect of what you would expect. Last year when the Pirates got off to that amazing start, it ended with a double-digit win over the Washington Nationals. From that point on, the Pirates went into a major slump that ended their season. Could it happen the other way around this year? Highly unlikely but you never know.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Steel City Just Needs To Be At A Higher Elevation

Final Score: Pirates 5 Rockies 2

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates brought out the long ball with Bryan Reynolds, Andrew McCutchen, and Jack Suwinski all going deep last night in the thin air. Another bullpen game with Luis Ortiz being the bulk man for the 2nd time was very effective. Ortiz went 5 innings, giving up one run on 7 hits, walking no one, while striking out 3. The Pirates were only leading 2-1 going into the 7th when Jack Suwinski hit the big 2 out 2 run homer to give the Pirates a nice lead at 4-1. The top 7 batters in the lineup all got hits, as the Pirates cranked out 9 hits to go along with one walk to put 5 runs on the board. Pirate pitching also gave up 9 hits and walked 4 but as we shall see Colorado showed why they are 21 games under 500.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the bottom of the third with one out, the Rockies got a double and a single to put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. On the second pitch of the at bat Ezequiel Tovar grounded into a double play to end the inning. Things only got worse for the Rockies in the 5th. The Rockies opened the inning with a single. Charlie Blackman hit a ground ball down the first base line that woke up Rawhide Rowdy, but too late, that went down the right field line for an 82 MPH ground ball double. Imagine, they put this guy in late in the game for defensive purposes. But the Rockies got stupid by sending the runner home from third on a short pop fly to right field. Connor Joe threw out the runner easily to complete the double play. Tovar tripled in the run, but instead of the Rockies being ahead 2-1 with one out and runner on third, they had a runner on 3rd with 2 out and the score was tied 1-1. The next batter grounded out to Rawhide Rowdy which would have been an interesting play at the plate, but instead was just the third out. McCutchen untied the game the very next inning with a long home run and the Pirates were on their way to an opening game win in the series.

Next Game: Tonight, Rockies in Denver. Jared Jones will start tonight, and we will see how his stuff plays at higher altitude. According to assistant coach Greg Brown, Paul Skenes is not going to pitch until Monday, so who knows what the Shadow has up his sleeve for Sunday. Forget about a series win or sweep. The Pirates so desperate for money are going to have Skenes skip a day just so he can pitch at home. What an organization.

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Just One?

Daily writing prompt
Describe one of your favorite moments.
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I have been fortunate enough to have many favorite moments in my life. Describing just one would not do the other moments justice. Obviously, there are some moments in your life that are bigger and more important than others, but that does not mean that they did not give you joy and happiness and will be etched into your brain until the day you die. So in chronological order here they are.

Bill Mazeroski’s home run in the bottom of the ninth of game 7 to win the 1960 World Series over the mighty Yankees.

My first hole in one July 31st 1968

My second hole in one June 13th 1970

Franco Harris’s Immaculate Reception December 23, 1972, my Dad’s birthday.

My wedding day December 14, 1974. Even though it ended in 1999, still one of my favorite days.

Graduating from Veterinary School June 1975.

Birth of my daughter July 7th 1977. That’s right 7-7-77. I will remember that date even when I’m senile.

Opening my veterinary practice October 15th 1980

First day of opening new veterinary building that I had built Oct 15th 1983

My third hole in one July 23rd 1988

Taking my daughter to college September 16th 1996

My fourth hole in one November 3rd 2003

My fifth hole in one August 7 2005

The births of all 3 grandchildren May 4, 2007, July 22, 2009, and January 16th, 2015.

Last but certainly not least, an albatross (a 2 on a par 5) May 3, 2018

I would say that this list is not complete, but it covers quite a lot. It has been a great run and hopefully I will have a few more favorite moments to come. If not, this has been quite enough. I am one lucky man.

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Pirates Morning Report: Right On Two Out Of Three

Final Score: Pirates 3 Cardinals 4

Why The Pirates Lost: Yesterday I wrote that I thought Henry Davis, Nick Gonzales and Oneil Cruz would not start for various stupid reasons, and I was right on the first two. Gonzales the hottest hitter on the team could have been used as the DH. He could have been used as a pinch hitter in the 9th. Instead, he was not used at all because the Pirates play these games as if they are meaningless. I should feel grateful that they at least scored 3 runs and got off the 2 run schneid. The Pirate offense got 7 singles and 5 walks but could only produce the 3 runs. This was not enough as Mitch Keller gave up two long balls on his way to pitching 6 innings, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out 4. Not a bad performance, but with the pathetic lineup that started he needed to be better than that. The last 5 batters in the order did not have a batting average higher than .210 or an on base percentage of .290. League average is .241 and .311 Jack Suwinski did not put a ball in play striking out 3 times and walking once. The other 4 did not too bad, getting on base 7 times. It all added up to a frustrating loss for a fan, as the Pirates continue not to play the best players.

Key Moment Of The Game: The lineup card was huge again. In the bottom of the 3rd with the game still scoreless, Masyn Winn got a one out triple. Keller struck out the next batter for the 2nd out. Paul Goldschmidt worked the count to 3-2 after falling behind 1-2. Keller left a 93 MPH cutter over the plate thigh high, and Goldschmidt blasted it over the right center wall to make the score 2-0. Keller got touched up for a run in the 4th, got out of a jam in the 5th, but gave up the leadoff home run in the top of the 6th which was the margin of victory for the Cardinals. The loss kept the Pirates firmly entrenched in last place.

Next Game: Tonight, the Rockies in Denver. The Pirates have not announced who is going to start the game. Who knows what they are going to do? Maybe they will start Grandal. The last two games have been lost even before the Pirates have taken the field. The lineups were bizarre. The Pirates lost 2 out of 3 to a Cardinal team that is floundering and old. I will just have to assume we are in for a really weird weekend, and I don’t think the high altitude will have anything to do with it.

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Pirates Morning Report: Poor Lineup Construction

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cardinals 4

Why The Pirates Lost: Did the Pirates think that Sonny Gray was left handed. The splits on Gray are right handed batters hit .168 and left handed batters hit .243. He has walked lefties 12 times and righties 8 times. So, what do the Pirates do, they start a lineup with only 2 left handed batters. Connor Joe hits .288 against lefties and .235 against righties. Edward Olivares hits .246 against lefties and .212 against righties. Neither one of them should have been in the lineup against one of the best right hand pitchers in the National League. The Pirates scored only 1 run off of Gray and 2 runs for the game. Are the Pirates about to start on another stretch of games where they only score 2 runs a game for about 10 to 12 games in a row? I would have loved to have been at the meeting that was responsible for that lineup card. Baily Falter had another mediocre outing, getting knocked around for 8 hits that resulted in 3 runs, in just 4 innings of work. There were two possible significant things that happened in this game. Henry Davis hit a home run. Will this give him some confidence and momentum to start hitting. We probably won’t know today because at 24 years of age Henry is just not physically able to catch a day game after a night game. Kyle Nicolas, who I felt should have been sent down immediately, pitched a dominant 2 innings striking out 5 of the 6 batters he faced with no walks. He only got to a 3-ball count once. There is no question Nicolas has great stuff, but you have to get it over the plate. Hopefully he has found something, and this was not just some fluke.

Key Moment Of The Game: When The Shadow took out the lineup card and the 1st inning. The Pirates started the game with a walk and Bryan Reynolds doubled to put runners on second and third with no one out. From there, Gray struck out the side on 10 pitches, on his way to retiring 12 batters in a row. In the crazy NL Central the Pirates fell from second to last in one night.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals in St. Louis. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates as they try and win their third series in a row. I am sure the Pirate brass will be meeting early to construct another stupid lineup. My guess is that they will think that both Nick Gonzales and Oniel Cruz will need a rest. After all, they got 3 of the Pirate 6 hits last night. Plus, they are at that fragile age of 25.

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Pirates Morning Report: Unbelievable Win

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cardinals 1

Why The Pirates Won: Good question. They were outhit 8 to 3, gave the Cardinals 4 outs in the bottom of the 9th, did not get a hit until the 7th inning, but still managed to win. Paul Skenes had another solid performance going 6 and 1/3 innings giving up 5 hits, no walks, while striking out 8. Both he and Miles Mikolas pitched a perfect 1st three innings. Mikolas gave up a walk in the 6th before giving up a hit in the 7th inning. Both pitchers pitched out of 1st and 3rd, nobody out jams, Skenes in the bottom of the 5th and Mikolas in the top of the 7th. The bullpen was able preserve the win, despite giving up a home run in the bottom of the ninth. They slipped into 2nd place, with four teams all within one loss of each other.

Key Moments Of The Game: Both pitchers getting out of those 1st and 3rd nobody out jams was huge. The game boiled down to the 9th inning where both teams failed to execute properly, with the Pirates being able to overcome their mistakes. With the Pirates pathetic bats, you knew that they were going to need help and they got it from Ryan Helsley and Cardinal catcher Pedro Pages. Helsley walks of all people Jack Suwinski on 4 pitches no less. A single and another walk loaded the bases with no outs. Connor Joe hit a line drive that drawn up shortstop Masyn Winn knocked down but rushed his throw that one hopped the catcher, who dropped the ball, allowing the Pirates to finally score. Oneil Cruz hit a sacrifice fly and the Pirates led 2-0. Bednar came in the bottom of the 9th and immediately, like first pitch immediately, gave up a home run, making the score 2-1. He got a strike out and a pop out in the next 7 pitches. He walked the next batter on 4 straight pitches. The game seems to be over on a strike out, but replay showed catcher interference putting runners on 1st and 2nd. Right here is where you thought the Pirates are going to blow it. However, Bednar strikes out the next batter on 6 pitches, giving the Pirates an unbelievable victory.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Baily Falter goes tonight for the Pirates. He will face Sonny Gray who has not looked all that great his last 2 starts. The Pirates did get some stiff from the Yankees to go to the bullpen. Good God. Can Falter keep the momentum going? Stay tuned.

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Pirates Morning Report: Sixty-Five Games In

We are about 40% into the season and the Pirates continue to swim in the waters of mediocrity. It is amazing how consistently mediocre they are in all phases of the game, except one. Their starting pitching is now ranked 6th in all of baseball according to wins above replacement. All other parts of their team are ranked anywhere from 11th to 25th. The Pirates have played 33 games since the last evaluation of the team. Amazingly they have a record of 17-16. It is amazing because in every important team category they have gotten worse or essentially stayed the same. In runs scored they went from 21st to 20th. In on base percentage they went 15th to 24th. In the comparison stat of OPS+ they went from 24th to 27th. What this tells us, that despite all the rhetoric in the Pirate broadcast booth, the offense still stinks and has gotten worse. On the run prevention side of the ball the Pirates have fallen also, but not quite as far. In runs allowed the Pirates went from 15th to 19th. In fielding independent pitching, they went from 17th to 19th. In the comparison stat ERA+ they went from 12th to 14th. In an area where I thought they would be strong, fielding, they fell from 12th to 17th in defensive efficiency. This team is about as mediocre as a team can get, which I guess is better than being awful.

As a refresher, the comparison stat of OPS+ and ERA+ is just a number with 100 being league average. Henry Davis 38, Jarod Triolo 66, Rowdy Tellez 67, Michael Taylor 44, Jack Suwinski 63, and Yasmani Grandal 33 are the reason that the Pirates are so bad on offense. Only Rowdy Tellez is beginning to show some signs of life. You knew what you were getting with Michael Taylor, an elite center fielder who has been an up and down hitter his whole career. However, Suwinski, Davis, and Triolo have been major disappointments. Once Joey Bart and Ji Hwan Bae get healthy Davis and Suwinski should be back in AAA. Triolo should be sent down and Liover Peguero should be given another shot. On the pitching side of the ball 4 of the starting pitchers have solid ERA+. Mitch Keller 130, Paul Skenes 138, Jared Jones 126, and Barry Falter 111. The bullpen has been the obvious problem. At one time they were ranked as low as 28th in baseball but have been able to pull up to 23rd at the 65 game mark. The top of the bullpen, the A team as I like to call them, of Bednar, Holderman and Chapman have performed well over the last 2 weeks. As much as I like to get on Hunter Stratton he does have an ERA+ of 96 which should keep him on the team for now. The two that have to go are Kyle Nicolas 67 and Ben Heller 10. I really do not know what the Pirates have against Jose Hernandez. When given the opportunity he has done all right. Carmen Mlodzinski has an ERA+ of 72 but has pitched better lately. The Pirates need to replace Nicolas and Heller now.

As I wrote before, it is amazing that the Pirates played one game over .500 during this stretch of games. The next evaluation will be at the All Star break. We will see what if any moves the Pirates make. It is obvious that they need bullpen help. I do not care where they get it, but something has to be done with either 2 or even 3 relievers being replace immediately. Even though the starting pitching of the Pirates is approaching elite status, in this day and age this only gets you through 2/3 of the game. Without a shutdown bullpen you are not going to make any kind of run at a playoff spot, even in the mediocre National League. Forty per cent through the season and the Pirates are still right in the hunt for the last wild card spot. It would be so easy to put this team over the top. They need one solid batter and two good, not great, relievers. Please management do something for once. I am not getting any younger.

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Pirates Morning Report: Are The Pirates Really Trying To Win

Final Score: Pirates 5 Twins 11 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: Simply another totally mismanaged game by Derek Shelton. No question the bullpen was stretched quite thin. So, why do you take Jared Jones out after only 84 pitches. If you thought you were going to have to use Ben From Heller, then use him in the 6th or 7th not when the game is on the line in the top of the 10th. Heller’s performance in the 10th, will go down as one for the books. First, he came into the game with an ERA of 45.00 and left with one higher at 49.50. He gave up 7 runs, 5 hits, walked 1 and hit 3 batters. His philosophy of pitching is if you can’t get them out just kill them. Chapman only threw 13 pitches. Why couldn’t he come out for the 10th. The Pirates have a day off today. You have to wonder if Shelton even knew that. Granted the umpires blew a call in the first inning that cost the Pirates a run or maybe the game would not have even gone into extra innings. You have to wonder if the Pirates’ management is even trying to win games. They need bullpen help in the worse way and there are some quality arms on some very bad teams. Will the Pirates make any effort to get them. Just a disappointing day sending the Pirates to 31-34.

The Key Moment Of The Game: In the first inning Jared Jones had some control issues and got touched up a little but the Twins had only scored 2 runs. Byron Buxton was up and had a 1-1 count. The next pitch was up and in and obviously hit the bat of Buxton. Obvious to everyone but the four blind and deaf umpires. The worst part of all this was the Pirates took this lying down. This should have been a heated argument with someone getting tossed. So much for the fire in Henry Davis’s belly. It was ruled a passed ball and the runner from third scored to make it 3-0. I do not understand why Henry Davis ran after the ball. If he would have just asked for another ball the ump may have called it a foul ball. Regardless this cost the Pirates the game eventually. That, and Derek Shelton’s lack of baseball sense.

Next Game: Tomorrow the Cardinals in St. Louis. Tomorrow will also be the 65 game report on these Pirates that stand 31-34. Amazingly the Pirates have played one game over .500 since the 32-game report. Withs the day off today hopefully no one in the Pirate bullpen will be throwing any pitches. Hopefully the Pirates will bring up some new arms. That is if they are taking this season seriously. What do you think?