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Pirates Morning Report, Doubles, Anyone.

Final Score: Pirates 3 Orioles 6

Why The Pirates Lost: The pitching just was not there last night. They were touched up for 6 runs, 11 hits and gave up 6 walks. They were lucky that the Orioles only scored 6 runs. It could have been much worse. The Orioles left 12 runners on base and were just 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position. In the first 2 games of the series the Orioles have hit 8 doubles. The Pirate’s bats woke up a little bit with Cruz hitting a 2-run homer and Hayes driving in a run in the 6th. Still, they only managed to get 6 hits for the game. One of those hits was by that dynamic duo of Allen and Van Meter. They went 1 for 5 to keep those averages below .200. It was really good to see those two get some playing time, so the young players could see how not to play baseball. They heavily contribute to every loss. But this loss has to be put on the pitchers. Chase De Jong went so far as to allow a run without giving up a hit by walking 3 batters in one inning. Here, take that extra run to help ensure victory, you don’t even have to swing.

Key Moment of The Game: The Orioles were making an effort to help the Pirates get back into the game by hitting a batter, then walking a batter to start the top of the 8th. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a sharp ground ball just to the left of second base and Oriole shortstop, Jorge Mateo made a nice diving stop and flipped the ball to second while still on the ground to start a double play which essentially ended the threat.

Next Game: This afternoon, Orioles in Baltimore. I knew it would not be long before Van Meter made it back in the starting lineup to help lose some games. Will they have enough balls to do it 2 games in a row. Bryce Wilson starts tomorrow which does not bode well for avoidance of a sweep. Van Meter or Allen may not need to play.

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Pirates Morning Report, Just a Baseball Thing

Final Score: Pirates 0 Orioles 1

Why The Pirates Lost: When you don’t score any runs you lose. Getting away from the Brewers pitching staff seemed to silence the bats. There were some interesting takes from the game. The Pirates only struck out 6 times and Oneil Cruz had 3 of them. These new Pirates are at least putting the ball in play more. Apparently, Manny Banuelos could start the 8th last night and go into the 9th but could not face Kolton Wong on Wednesday in the top of the 10th. In the top of the 8th Shelton pinch hit for Cal Mitchell, with Greg Allen who is hitting .129 because there was a left hander in the game. Cal Mitchell’s splits are almost exactly the same against right and left hand pitching. Too bad Shelton did not get ejected earlier. Mitch Keller for the second game in a row danced through the raindrops and gave up only 1 run in 6 innings even though he did not have a 1-2-3 inning. It was another gritty tough performance by Keller, but despite what the Pirate website says, it was not a gem. All in all, it was a tough loss for the Buccos.

The Key Moment of the Game: Three times was a charm for the Orioles. They had led off with doubles in the 1st and the 3rd but could not bring them around to score. In the 6th, they led off with a double which set up the only run of the game. They needed a ball that hit Keller in the foot and seeing eye ground ball between Hayes and Cruz to finally score. The Pirates had a couple of minor threats late in the game but could not get the job done.

Next Game: Late afternoon, Orioles in Baltimore. The big question, is this the day that Van Meter gets back in the lineup? I can’t wait to find out. Do you think the Pirate management team ever look at analytics during the game? With the moves they make, or sometimes the lack of moves, it could not be possible. I will be curious to see if the bats can make a comeback today.

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Pirates Morning Report, Who’s on First.

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 4 10 innings

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates did it all yesterday. The bullpen did the job, as they technically did not give up an earned run, although they came close. Two great defensive plays saved the day for them. Again, the Pirates offense thrived on Brewer pitching, getting 5 runs on 12 hits, 3 walks, striking out only 4 times. Let that sink in for a while, they only struck out 4 times. The highlight of the game may have been when Bob Walk and Greg Brown were trying to figure out when and how Christian Yelich was ejected from the game, followed by the ejection of Craig Counsell. Walk and Brown have nothing on Abbot and Costello’s who’s on first. They were so engrossed trying to figure it out, that they almost ignored the game as the Pirates were in the process of tying it up. Walk was so confused it was hilarious. Who got tossed from the game? Yelich. Who? Yelich After he ran out onto the field? No. He ran out onto the field and then got tossed. No. I don’t think Counsell got tossed. Yes, he did. It didn’t look it. Well, he did. Did what? Got tossed from the game. When? Before Yelich. For running out onto the field. No, Yelich was tossed before that. Are you sure? Not really. Is Counsell in the dugout? Let’s look. It went on and on.

Key Moment of The Game: In the top of the 9th the Brewers loaded the bases on a double, an intentional walk and a hit batsman, with one out. Tyrone Taylor hit a hard ground ball right down the third base line, that Ke’Bryan Hayes made a great backhanded stop , then stepped calmly on the bag at third and threw to first for a spectacular inning ending double play. Ben Gamel made a great catch in the top of the 10th to end that inning with the bases loaded. DUJ, after getting 2 men out in the 10th, completely imploded while The Shadow was still trying to figure out if Yelich was still in the game and if Counsell was still on the bench and did not see the need to get DUJ out of the game. Gamel’s catch saved the day.

Next Game: Tonight, Orioles in Baltimore. It will be interesting to see if the bats can continue to hit after getting away from Brewer pitching or was this just one of those crazy baseball things, like the Pirates beating the Dodgers 5 out of 6 games. The lineup looks good with the young guys in there. The most impressive of the group so far has been Tucupita Marcano who has been hitting well. His defense has never been questioned but he seemed to have problems with the bat at almost every level. He looks great at the plate right now and if that continues, he would be a great asset to this team.

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Pirates Morning Report, Hello Tucupita, and Goodbye Tsutsugo

Final Score: Pirates 8 Brewers 7

Why The Pirates Won: For whatever reason the Pirates seem to thrive on Brewer pitching. Last night they scored 8 runs on 12 hits, accepted 3 walks, and only struck out 7 times. The hits included one double, one triple, and two home runs. The Pirates needed all 8 runs as management decided to try a bullpen game with an exhausted overworked bullpen. They looked it, giving up 7 runs on 12 hits, walking 5 and only striking out 6. Four of the 6 pitchers did pretty well but it was Beede and De Los Santos that gave up all the runs. They won because of what Greg Brown calls the youth movement. I call it the upgrade movement. A starting lineup with no Van Meter or Tsutsugo. That was a recipe for victory.

Biggest Moment of The Game: The Cruz 2-out home run in the bottom of the 7th, after the baserunning blunder by Ke’Bryan Hayes, and yes it was a bonehead play despite what Bob Walk said. It stretched the Pirate lead to 7-4. There would have been no walk off by Bryan Reynolds if Cruz does not hit that bomb.

Next Game: This afternoon: Brewers, in Pittsburgh. Can the Pirates get the sweep? Rumor has it that Derek Shelton was sobbing when he was told the Tsutsugo was DFA’d. He was heard saying “How are we ever going to keep that top 5 draft pick if he is not in the lineup every day. We can’t have a bullpen game every time, it would look like we are not trying to win. Van Meter can only do so much”.

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Pirates Morning Report, Walking to Victory

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 3

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates could only manage 4 hits and 5 walks but got 3 of them in the 6th and all 3 came around to score, 2 on the home run by Oneil Cruz and the other on a single by Tyler Heineman. Then Heineman came around to third on a throwing error and scored on a pass ball. The Brewers were in a charitable mood last night to help the Pirates end their 7 game losing streak. All the scoring took place in the 6th as the Brewers went yard 3 times to score their runs and at the time it looked like the Pirates were going down for the 8th time in a row. The Brewers said no way, here is a victory just for you.

Key Moment of The Game: The Cruz homer was the big hit of the game and it’s been awhile since the Pirates made someone pay when they made a mistake. This time the Pirates produced a 5 run inning that was good enough to win the game, as the bullpen came through and held the lead.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Pittsburgh. It was amazing that the ace of the Brewers, Corbin Burnes walked 5 in 5.1 innings to allow the Pirates to score 5 runs and win the game. There is still no end in sight to the offensive slump. Another game with double digit strikeouts. There is a starting lineup that could probably hit better, but the Pirates will never play them this year, and some of them are not even on the team.

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Pirates Morning Report, Batting Practice on a Sunday

Final Score: Pirates 2 Phillies 8

Why The Pirates Lost: The pitching staff gave up 18 hits, allowing the Phillies to score 8 runs in just 6 innings. J.T. Brubaker gave up 7 hits and 2 runs through the first 4 innings but in the 5th all hell broke loose. While the Pirates Swiss cheese bats could only muster 2 runs, they did manage to get 9 hits and “only” struck out 9 times. In the end, it was just another blowout loss for the last place Pittsburgh Pirates. Management is finally getting its wish, and the draft is looking good for next year.

Key Moment of The Game: The Pirates were only trailing 2-1 going into the 5th inning. Brubaker was dancing through the raindrops, much like Mitch Keller the game before, but in the 5th his luck ran out. A home run, an out, and then 4 straight singles quickly made the score 5-1 and the game was essentially over.

Next game: Tuesday Brewers in Pittsburgh. Now the Pirates can help the Brewers extend their lead in the NL Central. Could the losing streak stretch to 10. Only The Shadow knows for sure, but one thing is certain, he will find some way to make the lineup as incompetent as possible. Van Meter and Tsutsugo forever.

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Pirates Morning Report, Two Is The Magic Number

Final Score: Pirates 2 Phillies 4, in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: This was the 45th time this season that the Pirates scored 2 runs or less. This is almost half. You are not going to win many games with that little of an offensive punch. Quintana pitched well enough to keep teams interested in him. When he left the game the score was 1-0. He got 2 outs in the 6th but then fell apart by giving up a walk, a single, and another walk. Then Shelton made the move to the bullpen and De Los Santos got out of the inning.

Key Moment of The Game: Of course, Shelton could not leave well enough alone. He decided to play musical chairs with the bullpen in the top of the 7th and it failed miserably. Why take De Los Santos out in the first place only The Shadow knows. The strategy allowed the Phillies to get the 2 runs to tie the game. Then DUJ gave up the big blast in the top of the 10th and the Pirates strolled to another defeat.

Next Game: Tonight, Phillies in Pittsburgh. The bats continue to slumber, proving Thursday’s night rally was nothing more than a fluke. Whew! It makes you wonder if they don’t have defective I-Pads. The Phillies getting a sweep is looking more and more likely,but we will see what tonight brings. Swing for the fences Tsutsugo.

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Pirate Morning Report, You Knew They Weren’t Going To Do It

Final Score: Pirates 7 Phillies 8

Why The Pirates Lost: Poor pitching was the culprit last night. Zach Thompson just had a bad start. He seemed to have righted the ship after giving up 3 runs in the 1st and then 1 in the 2nd. He got through the next 3 innings unscathed, dodging a lead off double in the 5th. Then we came to the key moment of the game. More on that later. Of course the Pirates did rally from the 8-0 deficit. Cal Mitchel hit a 2 run homer in the bottom the 7th, to cut it to 8-2. Then came the ninth inning rally. The Phillies big mistake was leaving Familia in the game after he gave up the hit to Greg Allen. If that guy gets a hit off you, you know your stuff is just not on tonight. They still left him in when he walked Van Meter, another cardinal sin, for a pitcher to make. In the end the rally fell short, and the Pirates lost a’gain.

The Key Moment of The Game: Thompson got those first two outs in the top of the 6th and it looked like this was going to come under the heading of a gritty outing, if not all that great of one. Then in a heartbeat there was a single, a single and then Kyle Schwarber hit the 3 run blast that seemed to put the game away, giving the Phillies a 7-0 lead.

Next Game: Tonight, Phillies in Pittsburgh. Even though the rally fell short the Pirates did score 7 runs. They did strike out 10 times again but maybe the bats are about to wake up. Cal Mitchel had one of his better games going 3 for 4 along with home run.

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Pirate Morning Report, It’s The Same Old Song.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cubs 4

Why The Pirates Lost: Can the Four Tops please take the stage. The slumber company is firing on all 9 cylinders. This time they were able to score 2 runs on 4 hits,0 walks, and struck out 10 times. Five of the nine batters failed to get a hit. Greg Allen has been worth the wait hitting .083. Bryce Wilson, I have to give him credit, after the shaky first inning he gave up only 2 hits and walked one. He only threw 80 pitches in the 6 innings, but again, the Pirates would not let him come out for the 7th inning. He has thrown over 90 pitches 3 times this year. Another example of overuse of the bullpen by The Shadow. The Pirates just do not know how to play baseball. Outstanding job, coaching staff, the team looks lost. Oneil Cruz hit a 2 run homer in the 7th for the Pirates only runs. All that development in AAA has paid off for Cruz. Too bad the Pirate brass don’t think enough of Castillo to help him develop in AAA. Maybe he could have learned to hit right hand pitching. Diego, I think it’s time for you to start looking at the Indeed website.

The Key Moment of The Game: The 3- run 1st inning by the Cubs told you that the game was over. The Pirates have not scored more than 2 runs in 6 of their last 8 games. They get a day off today, their 4th in a row.

Next Game: Thursday, Phillies in Pittsburgh. The last time the Pirates faced a good pitching staff, the Brewers, they surprisingly lit them up. The Phillies staff is 7th in all of baseball in ERA+ and Fielding Independent Pitching. Could it happen again. We can only wait and hope.

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Pirates Morning Report, There Are No Routine Plays For The Pirates

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cubs 3

Why The Pirates Lost: The slumber company continues to not disappoint. Last night, 2 runs, 8 hits, 5 singles, to go along with 2 walks. All of this against a starting pitcher who Greg Brown described as a journeyman pitcher, no disrespect meant scumbag. Greg Brown was full of himself last night, making other comments both positive and negative about many players. You knew he was going to say a lot of inane things, when he started the game by saying that it was likely that Van Meter would be gone by the trade deadline. His words were “It would not be a surprise to see Van Meter on the move by the trade deadline”. VAN METER FOR GOD’S SAKE. Who would want him? The idea is to pick up a player to help you make the playoffs, not one who will guarantee you won’t. Maybe it would be like money ball, and they would get a pop machine in return. The only way that Van Meter will not be on this team by the trade deadline is if he is DFA’d. The bottom line is the Pirates lost another game by playing inferior players, when there are better players either not on the team or not playing.

The Key Play of The Game: Not being able to make the routine play on a ground ball to short resulted in the Cubs scoring the go ahead run in the bottom of the 8th. They charged the error to Cruz, which could change, but the Pirates could not execute the routine play. They made some spectacular defensive plays out there, but the error on the routine play cost them the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cubs in Chicago. Bryce Wilson takes the mound today, which just about guarantees a Cub win. The only hope is that the slumber company wakes up, which they do every once in a while. Just hold your breath on those routine plays.