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Pirates Morning Report, Pirates Sweep Despite Management

Final Score: Pirates 10 Reds 4

How The 2023 Pirates Did: Even though management only started 6 of the 2023 Pirates I’m giving them this one because the 6 had such a great game. Their record now stands at 7-6. The top of the order Hayes, Reynolds and Castro went 7 for 15 and knocking in 5 of the 10 runs. The other 4 were driven in by Chavis (2) and Cruz (2). The last run was a gift from the Reds. Cruz had the modern-day player typical game. He struck out 4 times and hit a home run. He never put a ball on the field. The Pirates struck out 14 times and still managed to score 10 runs. Roansy Contreras pitched only 4 innings and did not qualify for the win. Greg Brown said that Roansy would have to settle for 4 scoreless innings. Well, he better settle for 4 innings of giving up 1 run on 3 hits because that is what he really did. Greg, I know those short naps are great, but try to pay attention to the game once in a while. It was a nice series sweep for the Pirates.

Key Moment of The Game: It was the way the 8th inning unfolded that seemed to seal the deal. The score was 4-2 going into the top of the 8th and with the way the bullpen has been performing, the outcome was very much in doubt. Michael Chavis walked to start the inning. He went to 2nd on a bunt by Newman. Jack Suwinski flied out to center. Oneil Cruz came to the plate having struck out 3 times. On the 3rd pitched he smashed an opposite field homer to put the Pirates ahead 6-2 that gave them a nice cushion. In the 9th we scored 4 more times to really seal the deal.

Next Game: Tonight, Mets in New York. Zack Josh Van Collins Meter made another appearance briefly to play first base when Kevin Newman did something to his hand diving into the netting chasing a foul ball down the first base line. Major meeting today for the management team to try a get back to the losing ways. We can only guess what the lineup moves might be over the next week to get back in the draft chase. It shouldn’t take much considering we have the Mets and Yankees the next 6 games.

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Pirates Morning Report, Are You Sure That’s Not Josh Van Meter

Final Scores: Day Game: Pirates 6 Reds 1 Night Game: Pirates 1 Reds 0

How The 2023 Pirates Did: First of all, the Pirates snuck a game in on me, as I did not realize they were playing another day night doubleheader. The 2023 Pirates won game 1 with 7 players and a potential pitcher for 2023. In game 2 only 6 of the 2023 Pirates were in the lineup which does not qualify them for the win. The Pirates did start someone by the name of Zack Collins who is listed as a catcher. However, he started at 1st base and suspiciously looked a lot like Josh Van Meter to me. Whatever, Zack Josh Van Collins Meter will not be playing for the Pirates in 2023. He certainly hit like Van Meter going 0 for 3 with a strike out. I did see him getting fingerprinted after the game. The 2023 Pirates lit it up again in game 1 hitting 3 homers, one each by Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Cal Mitchell. The Pirates only got 3 hits in game 2, with only Castro getting the hit for the 2023 Pirates. The story of the day was the great pitching the Pirates got from potential members of the 2023 rotation. In game 1 Johan Oviedo pitched 5 innings of 1 hit ball, walking 2 and striking out 4 while only throwing 74 pitches. In game 2 Luis Ortiz made his Pirate debut allowing only 1 hit, walking 3, striking out 5 in 5.2 innings while throwing 83 pitches. It was a great day for the young arms of the Pirates.

Key Moment of The Day: In game 2 in the bottom of the 9th, the Pirates brought in Dwayne (I know how to lose games) Underwood Junior to pitch. The Reds could not even figure him out and after a 2 out walk to give the Pirate management hope that DUJ would blow another one, he got the next batter to hit a weak pop up to left field to end the game. The dejected look on The Shadow’s face told the whole story, as the Pirates moved into a tie with the Detroit Tigers for the 3rd worst record in baseball. What looked like a possibility of the overall no.1 pick in the draft is now slowly, painfully slipping away. The Pirate management team has scheduled a major meeting on Thursday to see what can be done. It will be long because the memo said bring your lunch.

Next Game: This afternoon, Reds in Cincinnati. If Zack Collins starts today, then I will know for sure that is Josh Van Meter. Just who the hell is Zack Collins anyway. Can someone please show me his driver licence. The 2023 Pirates have now raised their record to 6-6. It could have been 7-6 if it wasn’t for Zack (Josh Van Meter) Collins.

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Pirates Morning Report, Kiss It Goodbye

Final Score: Pirates 6 Reds 3

How The 2023 Pirates Did: They brought out the long ball last night, as Bryan Reynolds, Rudolfo Castro, and Diego Castillo hit home runs to account for all 6 runs the Pirates scored. Castro hit a 3-run homer followed up by the 2-run blast by Castillo that gave the Pirates a 6-2 lead in the 5th. As Bob Prince use to say, the Pirates kissed the Reds goodbye. Ke’Bryan Hayes had 2 hits and scored a run. Michael Chavis had 1 hit and a walk. Besides the home run Reynolds got another hit, a walk and scored another run. The 2023 Pirates got 8 of the teams 10 hits in a solid win. Bryse Wilson pitched pretty well giving up 3 runs in 5.2 innings and the bullpen barely hung on to preserve the win.

Key Moment of The Game: With Will Crowe laboring again in a 2nd inning of relief and Derek Shelton sitting on his hands hoping Crowe would get rocked again, the Reds had 1st and 2nd with no one out in the bottom of the ninth. Then on a 3-2 pitch, Jonathan India got called out on strikes on a pitch that barely caught the outside corner, but catch it, it did. The next batter TJ Friedl, who is left-handed, then hit a rocket but it was low and right at Jack Suwinski for the 2nd out. Crowe managed to get the third out on a ground ball to Ke’Bryan Hayes who stepped on third. Crowe threw 44 pitches but after the game Shelton told him he better be ready to pitch tomorrow night you out of shape pathetic excuse for a ballplayer, because we are not winning tomorrow, no matter what. Shelton said he could not believe that Crowe did not give up 4 runs to lose the game. He just does not understand what we are trying to do here. He may throw left-handed tonight.

Next Game: Tonight, the Reds in Cincinnati. Bringing up Castillo looked like a brilliant move by the Pirates after he hit the 2-run homer. They sent Park down to Indianapolis because he did not have a good process in his 1 at bat against the Mets, and he will work on that in AAA. He will get 1 at bat per game for the rest of the season. The 2023 Pirates improved to 5-6 and hopefully will get another opportunity against the lowly Reds.

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Pirates Morning Report, No Relief in Sight.

Final Score: Pirates 3 Cardinals 4

How the 2023 Pirates Did: Mitch Keller pitched his best game of the year shutting out the Cardinals on 2hits, 3 walks, striking out 6 over 7 innings, throwing only 91 pitches. The 2023 Pirates could not get the bats going as they only got 4 of the Pirates 7 hits. Jack Suwinski hit a home run in the 7th to put the Pirates ahead 2-0. Oneil Cruz drove in the other run on a force out at 2nd which scored Greg Allen. Unfortunately Chase De Jong simply did not have it, as the Cardinals lit him up like a dry Christmas tree that caught on fire. It was quick but not painless. Pitch one Tommy Edman double. Pitch 4 Corey Dickerson double Pirates lead cut to 2-1. Pitch 7 Albert Pujols home run, Cardinals lead 3-2. Pitch 14 Tyler O’Neil home run Cardinals stretch lead to 4-2. I hope you did not blink. Greg Allen hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th to make it a little closer, but the 2023 Pirates lost another heartbreaker falling to 4-6

Key Moment of The Game: Even though the top of the 9th was painful to watch, it was the bottom of the 3rd I thought was the big moment of the game. The Pirates had 1st and 3rd and nobody out with the top of the order coming up and could only muster the one run. The inning ended on a strike them out throw him out double play. After that inning the Pirates never really threatened again. Their other 2 runs came on bases empty home runs.

Next Game: Tonight, the Reds, in Cincinnati Bryce Wilson goes to the mound tonight and everytime I rag on the guy he pitches a good game. The Reds should score about 7 runs in 3 innings tonight against this pathetic right hander. Will the 2023 Pirates be on the field tonight, who knows, only The Shadow knows.

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Pirates Morning Report, Tough One For The 2023 Pirates

Final Score: Pirates 5 Cardinals 7

How The 2023 Pirates Did: The 2023 Pirates did pretty well but Will Crowe had another poor outing which led to the defeat. J. T. Brubaker pitched ok but his old nemesis the long ball came back to haunt him, as all 3 runs he gave up, came via the home run. The Pirates had leads of 3-0 and 4-3 but could not hold on to them. The 2023 position players had very good games. Oneil Cruz continues to swing a hot bat going 2 for 4 with a home run and a walk. Jack Suwinski really woke up with the bat, going 3 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI’s. Rudolfo Castro hit a home run and everybody else in the lineup got on base via a hit or a walk. The 2023 Pirates played themselves a very good game but were done in by the fact that management refuses to believe that Will Crowe is just plain worn out. In his last 7 appearances he has an ERA of 8.53 and a WHIP of 2.05. Now, that’s the guy you want to bring in the top of the 9th with the game tied. There were many other options out there.

Key Moment of The Game: The first pitch just on the inside middle of the plate, belt high thrown to Nolan Arenado with 2 outs and the base loaded in the top of the 9th. Who did Will Crow think he was facing Ke’Bryan Hayes? Arenado lashed it into the left field corner for a bases clearing double to give the Cardinals a commanding 7-4 lead. It was a tough way for the 2023 Pirates to go 4-5.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Right now, the Pirates have the third worse record in baseball as the Oakland A’s have been really slumping. They are now 3 ahead of Oakland and 4 ahead of Washington in the loss column but the Pirates have plenty of time to fall to the worst in baseball. It will be interesting to see if the 2023 Pirates take the field for the 6th straight game. There are not that many 29+ year old rejects to play. All that is left is Gamel, Newman, Heineman, and Allen. I don’t know how much we are going to see of them since the bullpen is doing such a good job of keeping the No. 1 pick in the draft in play.

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Pirates Morning Report, Gas House Gang Meet The Gaffe House Gang

Final Score: Pirates 8 Cardinals 2

How The 2023 Pirates Did: From the mid 1920’s to the mid 1930’s the Cardinals had one of the winningest teams in baseball that was nicknamed the Gas House Gang. The current Cardinals met a Pirate team that could be termed the Gaffe House Gang. They made more gaffes in the field and on the bases in this one game than most teams do in an entire month. They even turned a single into an inning ending double play. You don’t want to know. Despite all the miscues and mental errors, the 2023 Pirates came through with a resounding victory over the 1st place Cardinals. They pounded out 15 hits lead by Oneil Cruz’s triple, double, single and 3 RBI’s. The entire lineup got at least 1 hit each. Cal Mitchel got 3 hits. I can even stomach Ben Gamel as the DH. I only have to reach for the Pepsid when he puts a glove on. I can see Gamel being the DH next year, so this was a 10-man 2023 team. Roansy Contreras pitched well again despite some defensive gaffes including one of his own by not catching a toss from Michael Chavis at first base. The bullpen held up well and the Pirates had the nice 8th inning to sew the game up. The 2023 Pirates evened up their record to 4-4 with this badly played game. Are they really that good that they can make that many mistakes and still beat the Cardinals by 6 runs. Hell yeah!

Key Moment of The Game: In the top of the 4th with the Pirates leading 1-0, Contreras got Goldschmidt and Arenado to ground out to start the inning. Then it looked like things might start to unravel. Corey Dickerson doubled, Contreras walked the next batter, and then Jason Delay butchered this little chopper in front of the plate to load the bases. Contreras then got Andrew Knizner to pop out to Oneil Cruz to end the threat. The Pirates scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th and never looked back.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Will the 2023 Pirates take the field tonight, only The Shadow knows. Youth was served last night, and the young Bucs set baseball back about 100 years but won anyway. Will they have the opportunity tonight.?

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Pirates Morning Report, Day-Nightmare Doubleheader

Final Score: Day Game: Pirates 1 Mets5 Night Game: Pirates 0 Mets 10

How The 2023 Pirates Did: Too bad the Pirates had to start 7 of the 2023 Pirates in both games, which saw them miserably sink to a 3-4 record. Even though both losses were mostly due to poor pitching from pitchers who are probably not going to be here in 2023, the 2023 Pirates failed to score a run for 18 innings. The run that was scored in the 1st game was solely the work of the 29- to 30-year-old rejects. I blame this day on the team’s shock and dismay when word got out that Josh Van Meter was DFA’d. The morale in the clubhouse had to be at an all-time low. I equate this with the Brewers when they heard that Josh Hader was traded. There were a few bright spots. Oneil Cruz got 3 hits for the day. Miquel Yajure had a nice 2 inning outing giving up 0 runs on 1 hit, striking out 3 in game 1. Former Pirate Daniel “The Turtle” Vogelbach has only had 4 hits in his last 34 at bats. This proves the theory you can take the boy out of the Pirates, but you can’t take the Pirates out of the boy. The Pirates did not commit an error all day. There isn’t much left to say about a day like today. Forget about it and just move on.

Key Moment of The Day: When the sun came up. There cannot be a key moment to a game when one team is never a threat to win the game. The Pirates were behind 5-0 after the 4th inning in game 1 and behind 7-0 after the 4th inning in game 2. The Pirates rarely threatened to score in either game.

Next Game: Friday night, Cardinals in Pittsburgh We do have our 3 starting pitchers for 2023 going in this series. We can only hope that the young bats find a groove with a much needed day of rest.

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Pirates Morning Report, 2023 Pirates Go 3-2 In a Big Way

Final Score: Pirates 8 Mets 2

How The 2023 Pirates Did: Pretty damn good. Let me count the ways. Oneil Cruz 3 for 5 with a home run, 2 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Bryan Reynolds 2 for 3, 2 walks, a run scored and an RBI. Rudolfo Castro 1 for 5, a home run and 2 RBI’s. Ke’Bryan Hayes returned to the lineup going 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. Michael Chavis did not get a hit but drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Jason Delay went 1 for 4 and an RBI. Finally, Jack Suwinski went 2 for 4. Mitch Keller threw 6 scoreless innings giving up 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out a pair, another solid performance. The 2023 Pirates did not commit an error, as they crushed the Mets.

Key Moment of The Game: The Mets had 2 runners on base in each of the first 3 innings and failed to score a single run. They went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position for the game. Keller was tough when he had to be and the Mets could not score in the early going as the Pirates stretched their lead to 4 runs after 6 innings. Mitch Keller has become a major league pitcher.

Next Game: Day-Night double header with the Mets in Pittsburgh. The Mets appear to be ripe for the taking as they may be starting their swoon a little later than usual. The Pirate brass is worried that this could affect their chances at the number 1 pick. There is talk that the Pirates may use a position player as a starting pitcher using the excuse that the doubleheader is too much for their staff and they won’t have any chance with De Grom pitching anyway.

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Baseball, Two Contrasting Teams.

The Pirates game against the Mets was rained out yesterday, so at least Pirate fans’ Labor Day was not ruined. With no Pirate Morning Report, I thought I would look at two teams that are battling for playoff spots but have totally contrasting personas. Yes, battling for a playoff spot, something that the Pirate faithful can only imagine. If the season ended today both the Cleveland Guardians and the San Diego Padres would be in the playoffs. Of course, that is the problem, the season does not end today and both teams may or may not make the playoffs. From a statistical standpoint the teams are very similar. From a perception standpoint they are totally opposite.

Let’s look at how they compare statistically. In scoring runs the Padres have the edge ranking 15th compared to 22nd for the Guardians. The Guardians are better at preventing runs ranking 9th to the Padres 12th. The Guardians pitch better and field better than the Padres. The Padres are the better hitting team. Overall, the Padres have the better record standing at 74-62, compared to the Guardians 69-64. The Guardians have a 1 game lead in the AL Central but are 5.5 games behind for the last wild card spot. The Padres have no chance to win the NL West but have a 2-game lead over the Brewers for the last wild card spot. They are only one ahead in the loss column. Since the All-Star break the Padres are 22-20 and the Guardians are 23-20. That is where the perceptions of these teams become polar opposites. Things looked so much different for these teams after the trade deadline.

The Guardians are considered the surprise team of the year. When the season started no one thought they would be contending for the division title. Everyone figured it would be a two-team race between the White Sox and the Twins. The Guardians were 20-24 on May 30th and then went 16-4 to move into 1st place. They have been either 1st or 2nd since. They did nothing of significance at the trade deadline. They just snapped a 5-game losing streak yesterday to maintain their 1 game lead. If they do not make the playoffs it will not be considered a shock. Contrast that with the San Diego Padres. They made the biggest splash at the trade deadline. The acquired Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Josh Hader. Those trades seemed to make the Padres a lock to make the playoffs and were considered to be a real threat to knock off the Dodgers and the Mets in those playoffs. At the time, Fernando Tatis was getting ready to return to make them even more formidable. Then on August 12 Tatis got suspended 80 days for PED use and not 1, not 2, but all 3 trade acquisitions have crapped their pants. This is a relatively a small sample size, but it is amazing. To cut to the chase Josh Hader before the trade had an ERA+ of 96, after the trade 23. Juan Soto is doing better lately but he is only slugging .394 with the Padres compared with .485 for Nationals and his OPS+ has dropped 22% points. Josh Bell can’t stop having diarrhea as he watches his OPS+ drop from 152 with the Nationals to 72 with Padres. After the trades the Padres payroll just topped the 200 million mark. The current Guardian payroll is around 46 million. The Milwaukee Brewers payroll is around 108 million. It would only be fitting if the Guardians win the division, and the Brewers knock the Padres out of the playoffs, after being highly criticized for trading Josh Hader. If that does happen the media will be all over the Padres for making them look so bad. If the Guardians don’t make the playoffs the media will be relieved just saying they ran out of luck. If the Padres don’t make the playoffs the media will say they were horribly mismanaged, and all the players hate their mothers. It can be tough when you try to win. Not so much, when you try to lose. Just ask the Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report, DUJ Does It Again

Final Score: Pirates 3 Blue Jays 4

How The 2023 Pirates Did: It was another game where the 2023 Pirates did not fare too well. There were 6 in the starting lineup and the group only had 3 hits. Oneil Cruz did hit a home run. Cal Mitchell got a hit and a walk. Jack Suwinski got the 3rd hit. Reynolds, Marcano, and Casto went 0 for 11, striking out 5 times. Marcano has really been struggling lately. After having a really good start, his hitting is coming into question again. In his last 51 plate appearances his slash line reads .146/.192/.229. He needs to somehow turn this around. J. T. Brubaker pitched ok, giving up 2 earned runs in 5 and 2/3rds innings.

Key Moment of The Game: Yes, DUJ lost another game as the Pirate manager hoped he would. He gave up 4 hits and 1 run in the top of the 7th, as the Blue Jays took the lead 4-3. You could see the stark differences in the bullpens. The Pirates brought in 4 relievers with ERAs of 1.86, 4.60, 3.46 and 6.17. Contrast that with the 3 relievers that the Blue Jays brought in, sporting ERAs of 2.87, 1.38, 2.06. The Pirates made it interesting in the bottom of the 9th, getting runners on 2nd and 3rd with no one out. The Pirates then struck out 3 times to end the game. At least this time Newman swung at strikes, so all that reading on the strike zone must be paying off.

Next Game: Early Afternoon, Mets in Pittsburgh. Another contender comes to town to show the Pirates how real baseball is played. The Pirates have that No. 1 pick really in sight now. Josh Van Meter will probably start the next 10 out of 12 games. Dwayne Underwood Jr. is warming up as I am typing. Kevin Newman is continuing to study the strike zone. Greg Allen still thinks stealing first base is possible. Ben Gamel is practicing diving for routine fly balls. Could the Pirates take the 2nd best team in the NL down to a series defeat like they did with the Dodgers. The Mets could be ready to take the swoon. They just lost to the Nationals yesterday.