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Pirates Morning Report: Gift Wrapped Win For The Brewers

Final Score: Pirates 3 Brewers 6

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates did everything they could to make sure the Brewers won the game. The Brewers scored 3 runs in the third on one hit. Rich Hlll after getting the first 4 batters out then decided to hit a batter. He walked the next batter on 5 pitches. He served up an 89 MPH chest high fastball to William Contreras that he crushed for a 3 run 435 ft. homer. The scored stayed 3-2 Brewers until the top of the 8th. In the top of the 8th the first 2 Brewers batters made outs. Carmen Mlodzinski walks the next batter after getting ahead 1 ball and 2 strikes. He then gives up a single to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Derick(The Shadow) Shelton then decides to put the worse Pirate reliever in the most crucial part of the game instead of putting in the best reliever, David Bednar, who had not pitched since Thursday. Ryan Borucki did not disappoint. On a little chopper to the left of the mound he threw the ball away and the Brewers scored 2 runs to stretch their lead to 5-2. The Pirates scored a run in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 5-3, but Shelton leaves Borucki in the game to make sure that the Brewers score another run and Brewers win 6-3. Borucki left the game with a sparkling ERA of 9.82. Definitely the pitcher you want in the game when you are trying to win a series against your division rival.

Key Moment Of The Game: When the Brewers tried to give us some help we did not take advantage. In the bottom of the 5th Jared Triolo reached on a throwing error to start the inning. Then the Pirates had the pitcher, I mean Austin Hedges bunt him over to second. Jack Suwinski walked with Reynolds and McCutchen coming to bat. Two weak ground balls and the inning was over and the Pirates were on their way to their 2nd loss in a row. Shelton made sure of it.

Next Game: Tonight Dodgers in Los Angeles. This starts a 7 game road trip against the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks. I expect the Pirates to win only one game on this trip. I will be mildly surprised if they win 2 and shocked if they win 3 or more. Yesterday’s game was a horrible performance by all involved. I wrote yesterday that this game was so important on many fronts and the Pirates fell flat on their face. It was an awful managerial performance. There was no sense of urgency to win this game. When you leave your best reliever sitting in the bullpen when the game is on the line, all you can expect is a loss. This is the 2nd time he has done this in the last 10 days. It would be nice to see this team hold on until the All Star break but I do not see that, with managerial decisions that are so bad .

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Pirates Morning Report: Eight Runs Not Enough This Time

Final Score: Pirates 8 Brewers 11

Why The Pirates Lost: This was a complete pitching failure. Johan Oviedo and Roansy Contreras combined for 7 and 1/3 innings giving up 11 runs, 12 hits, and walking 4. Both pitchers just can’t seem to get any consistency going. At one point the Brewers led 10-0. The Pirates made it interesting scoring 2 in the 6th and 6 in the 8th to make it 11-8 but went quietly in the 9th to fall 4 games below .500.

Key Moment Of The Game: In the bottom of the 8th, the Pirates had a runner on 2nd base with 2 outs and had only scored 1 run to make the score 11-3. The Pirates went on a tear. Jack Suwinski hit a home run to quickly make it 11-5. Conner Joe walked, Henry Davis singled, moving Joe to third. Davis went to 2nd on a wild pitch. Tucupita Marcano tripled to make the score 11-7. Jared Triola doubled off the Clemente wall to get the Pirates within 3. Rodolfo Castro who has not looked good at the plate for the last 3 weeks struck out on a 3-2 pitch about 4 inches outside the zone and the inning was over. The Pirates made the Brewers sweat for a moment but it was not enough and the winning streak was over at 4.

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. I really look at this as a must win for the Pirates. They need this to win a division series. They need it for their psyche. A 5-1 home stand is a must after the hole they put themselves in. This has been the weekend of the veteran and you can’t get more veteran than Rich Hill. Hopefully he will have his at them ball working and the Pirates can pull out the win.

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Pirates Morning Report: Santana Walks It Off

Final Score: Pirates 8 Brewers 7

Why The Pirates Won: For the second straight game the Pirates fought back from a 4 run deficit and in this game they did it twice. The offense came alive for 8 runs and 11 hits. The Pirates were 5 for 15 with runners in scoring position. It was a big day for the veterans. Thirty six year old Andrew McCutchen and thirty seven year old Carlos Santana went 6 for 10 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI’s, on a day when the youthful Pirates were having a hard time. The game turned out to be an impromptu bullpen game for the Pirates, as Osvaldo Bido could only go 3 and 1/3 innings giving up 4 runs on 4 hits and a walk, while throwing 73 pitches. The bullpen gave up 3 more runs over the last 5 and 2/3 innings. It was Carmen Mlodzinski who shut down the Brewers the last 2 innings that enabled the Pirates to get back in the game.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Brewers had to go with the B squad for the bullpen and the Pirates finally made them pay. Leading 7-5 going into the bottom of the 9th, the Brewers had to rest closer Devin Williams and brought in Matt Bush to pitch. Ji Hwan Bae opened with a single. One out later McCutchen doubled him home to make it 7-6. Henry Davis grounded out. On the next pitch Carlos Santana blasted a home run into the Allegheny River and the Pirates had the walk off win to go to 39-42.

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. The big comeback win for the Pirates keeps the momentum going. They have now won 4 in a row and the last 2 have been come from behind victories from 4 runs down. The sweep of the Brewers is still in play and they need it. They need it to help erase the memory of the previous 13 games and give them confidence going into the tough 7 game road trip coming up.

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Pirates Morning Report: Getting A Helping Hand

Final Score: Pirates 5 Padres 4

Why The Pirates Won: Good fortune and a helping hand from the Padres enabled the Pirates to come away with a 5-4 victory and sweep the series. The Pirates trailed 4-0 going into the bottom of the 4th. The comeback started here with a run, they added another one in the bottom of the 6th and topped it off with 3 in the 7th to complete the comeback. Henry Davis was the star with 3 hits, driving in 2 runs, including the go ahead run, and scoring a run. Luis Ortiz did not have his best best stuff yesterday giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks in just 4 and 2/3 innings. For the 2nd straight day the bullpen shutdown the Padres not allowing them to score a run. The record improved to 38-42

Key Moments Of The Game: Another game where the Padres could not come through with 2 outs and the Pirates did with a little help from the Padres. In the top of the 5th after one out Juan Soto walked. Manny Machado flied out. Xander Bogaerts singled and Jake Cronenworth walked to load the bases. The Pirates brought in Ryan Borucki and his 40 ERA. He got Brandon Dixon on one pitch to fly out to center and then pitched a scoreless 7th inning. Pretty miraculous. Going into the bottom of the 7th the Pirates trailed 4-2. Castro walked and Jared Triola singled to put runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out. Jason Delay hit a hard shot up the middle that took pitcher Tim Hill’s glove off. He had time to get the runner out at second but elected to throw to first and did get the out. Suwinski hit a soft chopper down the first base line that Hill fielded but no one was really on first base and Hill threw the ball into right field allowing the Pirates to tie the game 4-4, with Suwinski winding up on 2nd base. Luis Garcia came in and got McCutchen to ground out. Henry Davis got the big 2 out hit, a blooper down the right field line and the Pirates had the lead 5-4 that the bullpen preserved for their 3rd win in a row.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates must keep the momentum going and do some payback to the Brewers. Sweeping the Padres was huge and they took advantage of the breaks that they got. They need to at least take 2 out of 3 which will get them right back in the race.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Win The Battle Of The Bullpens

Final Score: Pirates 7 Padres 1

Why The Pirates Won: After 6 innings the score was 2-1 Pirates and both starters were done. Each team had to turn the game over to the bullpens for the last three innings. The Pirate bullpen which has been having a rough time came through last night giving up no runs on 3 hits and a walk. The Padre bullpen got touched up and I do mean lightly touched up for 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th, as the Pirates won their second in a row to go to 37-42. Carlos Santana hit another home run, this time in the first inning to give the Pirates a quick 2-0 lead. Mitch Keller after a slow start hung in there giving up only 1 run in the top of the 6th.

Key Moments Of The Game: Even though the final score was rather lopsided, it could have been much closer if some things had gone a different way for both teams. Keller after getting 2 outs in each of the first 2 innings, ran into trouble. In the first the Padres had 1st and 3rd but failed to score when Xander Bogaerts grounded into a force out short to 2nd. In the top of the 2nd the Padres had 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs but Ha-Seong Kim flew out to left field failing to score again. In the top of the 7th everything went right for the Pirates. Nick Gonzales got an infield hit that the shortstop lost his balance fielding the ball making the throw late. Jack Suwinski walked. Jared Triolo got hit in the hand while trying to bunt. This is where the Padres lost 2 arguments. Did the ball hit the bat first but regardless did Triolo pull his bat back fast enough. The answer was no but the umps thought he did. Instead of the at bat continuing, the Pirates had the bases loaded and nobody out. Josh Palacios hit a line drive to right field that Tatis barely short hopped scoring the Pirates 3rd run and the bases were still loaded with nobody out. If the bunt play had been ruled correctly and Tatis makes the play the Pirates would have had 1st and 2nd with 2 out. If everything had gone exactly the same way the score would have been 4-1 rather than 7-1. It could have been a much more tense top of the 9th inning.

Next Game: This afternoon Padres in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are going to be going for the series sweep. I know, it is hard to believe. The Pirates had some really good breaks last night and maybe that will help them turn this thing around.

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Pirates Morning Report: Not Getting Hedges Out=Loss

Final Score: Pirates 9 Padres 4

Why The Pirates Won: If you cannot keep Austen Hodges off the bases you are going to lose. He got 2 hits(not a misprint), a walk, and on base by catcher interference. This will probably be the last time in his career that he gets on base 4 times in one game. The Pirate bats woke up hitting 3 home runs, by Suwinski, Santana, and Gonzales, who also added a triple. Overall the Pirates had 15 hits for their most offensive game in at least a month. Rich Hill got knocked around for 4 runs, 9 hits but had his at them ball working and was able get through 6 innings. Roansy Contreras had some shaky moments, but managed to shut out the Padres over the last 3 innings. The Pirates win the first game of the series to improve to 36-42

Key Moment Of The Game: It was the bounce back 2nd inning, after the Padres scored 3 runs in the top of the inning. The Pirates had scored 2 runs and had runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Josh Polacios hit a line drive to center but was not deep enough to score the runner from third base. It looked like the Pirates were up to their old tricks and going to strand the runner on third base. However, Andrew McCutchen got the key 2 out hit allowing the Pirates to tie the game. The next inning they led off with back to back homers and the Pirates were on their way.

Next Game: Tonight, Padres in Pittsburgh. A good start to the home stand but cannot get too excited yet. Keller against Blake Snell who has been pitching well lately. Last night was the best game the Pirates have played in a long time. Can they get on a roll? Only time will tell.

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played South Park Score 82 Greens In Reg: 6 Putts 32

The Good: Nothing. I could not find anything to latch onto today to get me going.

The Bad: I had yip issues which was a little surprising. My driving was horrible. My iron game only had a few bright moments, but overall stunk. Putting was bad because of the yips. The short game was bad getting up down 5 out of 12 times. I think it was just being over golfed. The weather was muggy although the temperature was not that high.

The Luck Of The Round: I yipped some putts in, which has to be lucky. You could say I was lucky that I did not do bodily harm to myself, the play was so bad. Can not use bad luck as an excuse for this round.

Next Round: Probably not until July 8th at North Park. It’s Grandkids time.

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Pirates Morning Report: All Quiet On The Batting Front

Final Score: Pirates 0 Marlins 2

Why The Pirates Loss: The Pirates were shutout for the 10th time this season. What more can you say. They had some traffic in the early going but 15 of the last 16 batters made outs. Johan Oviedo pitched an excellent 7 innings giving up one run on 6 hits, no walks, while striking out 6 over 7innings. The Pirates have fallen to 7 games below .500 and things are just going to get tougher. They have 13 games before the All Star break finishing up with 4 games against the Dodgers and 3 with the Diamondbacks, out there. In the previous stretch of 13 games, I was hoping they would go around 7-6 or 6-7. They went 1-12 to pretty much end the season. I was wondering how this group would respond to meaningful games in August, but they collapsed playing meaningful games in June. They have a day off today, which proves there is a merciful God for everyone involved.

Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the 2nd the Pirates had 2nd and 3rd and one out thanks to an infield hit, a walk and wild pitch. Eury Perez struck out Castro on 5 pitches the last one being called and Austin Hedges on 3 pitches the last one being called. Just like the short putt never going in, you are not going to get a hit unless you swing the bat. They never got another runner in scoring position the rest of the game. A real stressful game for the Marlins.

Next Game: Tomorrow, Padres in Pittsburgh. The Padres will be the worst team, record wise, the Pirates will play over the next 2 weeks. The only solace for Pirate fans is that the Padres have spent a ton more money than the Pirates, to play this bad. It’s hard to say what might be the trigger that will start this team hitting. Getting rid of Austin Hedges might be a start.

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played Stoughton Acres Score 76 Greens In Reg. 6 Putts 27

The Good: I had to put my putter in the freezer when I got home it was so hot. I made two birdie putts one of about 40 feet and the other 25 feet. I made a par putt on the 9th hole of about 40 feet on a hole that I just butchered. I got it up and down 7 out of 12 times. I never missed a short putt all day. My driving was good most of the day.

The Bad: My iron game was bad hitting only 6 greens in regulation. I did have a couple of holes where I put it on the fringe. I played the par 3’s badly never hitting one on the green and playing them 2 over.

The Luck Of The Round: I had a lot of good fortune today. I hit one drive on the 9th hole so far left that I wound up being ok. I got through a couple of trees on 2 holes with minimal damage where I had shots to the green. Any time you make 3 bombs of putts, luck is on your side. I also hit a second shot on a par 5 that was headed into a lake but hit the rocks and ricocheted back into play. I hit I nice wedge within about 6 feet but missed the putt. One of the few putts I missed all day and did not really take advantage of the good break.

Next Round: Tomorrow, South Park then a 10 day break.

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Pirates Morning Report: Not Playing Basic Baseball

Final Score: Pirates 3 Marlins 4 11 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates had a runner on 2nd base with no outs 3 times in the game and did not get him to third one time. They scored only once in the three times and that took a 2 out single by Ke’Bryan Hayes in the top of the 10th. In that same top of the 10th the Pirates asked Connor Joe to bunt, and he has not had a sacrifice bunt in his career. Do you think they knew that? You have to wonder. Contrast that with the Marlins who had a runner on 2nd with no outs twice and moved him over both times. If the Pirates would have been able to do that, they would have won the game 3-2 in regulation. Osvaldo Bido pitched decently spreading out 9 hits, some of them of the infield variety, giving up 2 runs, striking out 5, walking no one over 5 and 2/3 innings. The bullpen did a good job for a change and held the Marlins in check until they started playing basic baseball, something the Pirates couldn’t do.

The Key Moment Of The Game: In the bottom of the 11th with the extra inning runner on 2nd base to start, Jason Delay elected not to try to get the runner going to third. You could clearly see on the replay that when he picked up the ball the runner was only about halfway to third base. That error in judgement most likely cost the Pirates the game. Maybe he thought the game was in Pittsburgh and the Pirates would get one more at bat. Even so they probably wouldn’t have gotten the runner over to third. He may have been thinking, why did the Pirates have Connor Joe bunt, and was just distracted. It is a little scary trying to get inside the Pirates’ brain.

Next Game: This afternoon, Marlins in Miami. Can the Pirates somehow someway get a split in this series? The Pirates are going up against the 20 year old phenom Eury Perez who in 8 starts is 4-1 with an ERA of 1.54. In similar situations this year the Pirates have been able to pull out the win. If they can do that today, it could turn the whole season around.