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Pirates Morning Report, Three Road Wins in a Row, Even With That Lineup.

Final Score: Pirates 5 Marlins 1

Why The Pirates Won: God only knows. With a lineup featuring at least 4 players who probably won’t be on the team next year, the Pirates cruised to victory. The big surprise of the game was the play of Yu Marisnick. No relation to Yu Chang, but similar baseball skills. Only hitting .168 coming into the game, he raised his average almost 30 points, with a double and a 2-run home run, in his first game back from the injured list. The bottom third of the order had 5 hits, drove in 2 runs, and scored 3. It was quite a day for the bums. It didn’t hurt that Mitch Keller pitched his best game of the year, going 7 innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits and ZERO walks. Way to go Mitch. Many of the Marlin players are on suicide watch, losing to the team that the Pirates put on the field. There is also the rumor that 11 of the Marlins players are going to be DFA’d today because of the loss.

Key Moment of The Game: It was early in this game. The top of the first the Pirates got the first two men on base, but then Chavis and the Turtle struck out. Diego Castillo saved the day by getting a soft liner to drop in centerfield, to score both runs to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. Kevin Newman got a big 2 out hit in the 2nd inning to drive in the 3rd Pirate run and Keller protected it well going the strong 7 innings.

Next Game: Tonight, Marlins in Miami. Even though there is a lefty going again for the Marlins, Marisnick probably did himself in by having a big game, so he probably won’t start. Management is pulling out all stops to end the 3-game road winning streak. They have not announced the pitcher yet. Right now, they are leaning toward Van Meter. Michael Perez is rumored to be playing right field. This is getting serious.

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Pirates Morning Report: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Final Score: Pirates 8 Brewers 6

Why The Pirates Won: They brought out the long ball with 4 home runs that accounted for 6 of the 8 runs. The bullpen has had a revival, as they protected the 1 run lead for 3 innings. I have been ripping the left-handed relievers for some very poor performances, but Manny Banuelos did the job yesterday. He came in with a runner on 2nd and nobody out and went strike out, harmless fly ball to left, and strike out to end the bottom of the 6th. This was in a part of the game that the Brewers were breaking back every time the Pirates had a taken a lead. This time they did not.

Key Moment of The Game: Craig Counsell brought in a right hander to face Ke’Bryan Hayes in the top of the 9th. He promptly walked Hayes to put runners on 1st and 3rd with 2out. With the 3-batter rule, this allowed The Turtle to face a right-handed pitcher. Doing it the only the way The Turtle can, he took 5 straight pitches to get to a 3-2 count. He then launched the 6th pitch over the center field fence, to give the Pirates an 8-4 lead. It turned out, they needed those 3 runs, as the Brewers scored 2 runs on a McCutchen home run, in the bottom of the inning to make the final 8-6 Bucco’s.

Next Game: Tonight, Marlins in Miami. A surprising series win in Milwaukee, especially with the number of runs the Pirates scored, against one of the better pitching staffs in the National League. The lineup was pretty good yesterday, so maybe management is giving up on the high draft pick for next year. The bullpen has come alive again and was a big reason the Pirates took the last two games of the series. Can we fry some fish next?

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Pirates Morning Report: One Good Inning

Final Score: Pirates 4 Brewers 3

Why The Pirates Won: For 8 of the 9 innings, the Pirates got 1 hit, walked 4 times, struck out 14 times and scored 0 runs. However, for one inning, the top of the 7th, the Pirates got 4 hits, scored 4 runs and struck out once. It was good enough to get a win. Ben Gamel’s home run was the big blow to give the Pirates a lead 4-3, they never relinquished. What was interesting about the 15 Pirate strikeouts was that a lot of them were called strike 3’s, or they swung at a ball way out of the strike zone. There were only a couple of strikeouts where the batter swung at a strike and missed. The bullpen protected the lead like they did in the early part of the season and the Pirates came away with an amazing win.

The Key Moment of The Game: The Pirates took the lead in the top of the 7th and Dwayne Underwood Junior, who from now on will be referred to as DUJ, because I am not typing that name anymore, came into pitch the bottom of the inning. Right away, the Brewers got two fluky hits to put runners on the corners with no one out. DUJ then bore down and struck out Andrew McCutchen. Kolten Wong grounded to Tsutsugo, who threw a strike to home plate to nail the runner trying score. DUJ struck out the next batter and the inning was over. From that point on, the Brewers went 6 up and 6 down to finish the game.

Next game: This afternoon, Brewers in Milwaukee. I was right about Reynolds not starting last night and Gamel starting, but his new best friend Van Meter did not. I can’t wait to see the Sunday lineup. This is more exciting than when you use to wait for Casey Kasem to reveal the no.1 song of the week on Sunday morning.

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Pirates Morning Report: Run Forest Run

Final Score: Pirates 3 Brewers 4

Why The Pirates Lost: J. T. Brubaker struggled through 5 innings giving up 5 hits and walking 5. He was lucky the Brewers could only produce 3 runs from such generosity. The Pirates could only muster 6 hits and 2 of those were in the ill-fated top of the 9th. Another strange starting lineup, by not letting your hottest hitter, the Turtle DH. You replace him with someone batting .180. You might as well let a pitcher hit. The home run by Willie Adames proved to be the deciding factor. Gamel and Van Meter did not start because they were told to do nothing but talk to each other for 2 hours straight.

Key Moment of The Game: Sending Kevin Newman home in the bottom of the 9th when he had 0% chance of scoring. You have to give Willie Adames credit, because he saw what was going on, and even though he must have been in a state of shock, threw a perfect strike to home plate. Another new way to play baseball. Just keep running until you are thrown out or score. Apparently, the Pirates are going to adopt this philosophy for the entire game from now on. When will Pittsburgh ever get a Major League baseball team, only The Shadow knows.

Nest Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Milwaukee. Since Castillo hit a home run and Reynolds went 3 for 4 do not look for them to start today. The Turtle is still a flip of the coin. Now that Tsutsugo is completely healthy, he will be in the lineup. Expect Van Meter and Gamel to be back out there also, now that they know each other. Pirate management now thinks that 110 losses are back in play, since they discovered this new way to lose games. Just keep running until you are out.

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Pirates Morning Report:

Final Scores: Game 1 Pirates 4 Reds 2 Game 2 Pirates 1 Reds 5

Why The Pirates Split: The Pirates got great starting pitching in both games. The great pitching could not overcome the silent bats and shoddy defense in game 2. The Pirate bats have been asleep for the last 3 games. They have produced 5 runs on 16 hits and 6 walks. Some teams do that in one game. They struck out 30 times. Even the Dodger pitching staff would probably be 1-2. It was nice to see Roansy Contreras get back on track with a very nice 90 pitch 6 inning outing. He gave up 1 run on 4 hits, only walked 1 while striking out 7. In game 2 our recently brought up “accomplished” major leaguers gave the Reds 5 outs in the bottom of the 7th which open the floodgates for a 4-run inning. The always unreliable Chris Stratton also contributed to the Reds win. The other rare occurrence happened in the bottom of the 8th. The Pirates brought in a left-handed reliever, and he pitched an entire inning without giving up a run.

Key Moments of The Games: In game 1, the Michael Chavis one out double in the top of the 7th to drive in 2 runs that gave the Pirates a 3-1 lead. In game 2, the Josh and Ben comedy act, which allowed the Reds to extend the inning and score 4 runs to secure the win.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Milwaukee. The pitching is only going to get tougher for those Swiss cheese bats. The Brewers staff is 6th in baseball in ERA+. We can only hope that the accomplished major league players that have recently joined the team, understand that the purpose of batting is to make contact with the ball and in order to do that, you have to swing at strikes. It does seem simple enough doesn’t it.

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Pirates Noon Report

Final Score: Pirates 0 Yankees 16

Why The Pirates Lost: Another blowout loss for the Pirates as they could not hit or pitch last night. If the Pirates had swept the Yankees, there probably would have been world economic collapse. The Pirates can add this 16-run performance to the 21, 19, and 18 runs they have given up in previous games. We are only at the halfway point of the season. Can they do 20 and 17 to complete the parlay. Call Vegas they are taking the bets now.

Key Moment of The Game: When it stopped raining. Another key moment was when The Shadow Shelton removed Manny Banuelos from the game in the top of the 8th, after he gave up 5 runs, 3 hits and 2 walks in an economical 19 pitch, 1/3 of an inning. He did not allow Banuelos to take the beating that that Cam Vieaux did against the Brewers, where he threw 48 pitches before he recorded an out. So, we know that Shelton got a good night’s sleep. I feel better already myself.

Next Game: Today and Tonight, the Reds in Cincinnati. The Pirates have reached the halfway point and stand at 33-48. If they can repeat that performance, they will win 66 games and lose 96. It will be tough, with management trying to lose games, but we will see what happens. Remember, only The Shadow knows.

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Pirates Morning Report

Final Score: Pirates 5 Yankees 2

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates did it all last night, hit, pitched and fielded their way to victory over the mighty Yankees. The Pirates are 6-1 against the Yankees and the Dodgers this year. Quintana pitched a strong 5 innings, and the bullpen kept the Yankees at bay for the final 4 innings. The hitters got 2 home runs and 2 doubles and scored 5 runs which was more than enough to win. The defense made no errors and came up with some big plays when the Yankees threatened. It was about as a complete game that the Pirates played this year.

Key Moment of The Game: In the top of the 7th the Yankees put runners on first and second via a single and a walk, with one out, and Aaron Judge coming to bat. It looked like it was going be another disastrous 2nd inning outing for Will Crowe. However, Crowe, on a 2-2 count, induced Judge to hit into a 4-6-3 inning ending double play. Even with Duane Underwood Junior pitching the 8th, the Yankees could not do much after that. The only way Shelton could have helped the Yankees more was to pitch Castillo, but that would have really obvious. He did all he could, but the Yankees failed miserably.

Next Game: Tonight, Yankees in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller will have his work cut out for him tonight coming off a bad outing. You never know, we may be catching the Yankees at the right time. They were shut out by the Guardians on Sunday, and they could only get one run off Duane Underwood (Do I really have to keep typing Junior after his name every time) Junior. Holy Hell, could we sweep the Yankees, no way.

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Pirates Morning Report

Final Score: Pirates 0 Brewers 2

Why The Pirates Lost: After having a very good day hitting in the clutch, the Pirates failed miserably with runners in scoring position, by going 0 for 11. They had 9 hits and 2 walks, but could not push a run across. They also had a big strikeout day again, by whiffing 14 times. In my view, the Pirates are just not aggressive enough in the early part of the at bat. Even though the Turtle got 3 hits yesterday, this was the 2nd game in a row, where he had an at bat and did not swing at a pitch. He struck out both times. DID NOT SWING AT A PITCH. On Saturday it was a 6 pitch at bat and yesterday a 5 pitch at bat. It’s like he is trying to prove that you could still get a hit without swinging at the ball. Zach Thompson pitched a nice 4.2 innings coming off the IL. You have to be philosophical about this loss, because the Brewers pitching staff is going to do this to a lot of teams.

Key Moment of The Game: The Pirates had 1st and 3rd with 2 out and Ke’Bryan Hayes at the plate. The first pitch by Josh Hader was a 97-mph fast ball almost down the middle of the plate, just on the inner half, and Hayes stood there with his bat on his shoulder. Even though he drew a walk to load the bases, the Pirates never saw a better pitch to hit from Hader again. Bryan Reynolds hit a lazy fly ball to left to end the game. Fast ball almost down the middle of the plate and Hayes stood there. He must be getting advice from the Turtle.

Next Game: Tuesday, Yankees in Pittsburgh. If some way somehow the Pirates could get a split, they would be 6-2 against the Dodgers and the Yankees, the most likely teams to play in the World Series. After the Yankee series the Pirates will be exactly at the halfway point of the season. Even if the Pirates lose both games to the Yankees and then play exactly the same way in the second half, they will lose 98 games. I am sure this is very upsetting to management who was hoping they would lose 110.

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Pirates Morning Report

Final Score: Pirates 7 Brewers 4

Why The Pirates Won: The bats woke up again and the Pirates scored 7 runs. They hit 2 home runs, each one coming with 2 outs, to drive in 3 of the runs. They scored all of their runs after two were out, in each of the three innings they scored. Probably the best clutch hitting the Pirates had all year. Bryse Wilson went 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 8 hits and a walk. He was aided by some line drives hit right at people and some very good plays in the field. The bullpen was a little shaky again, with David Bednar coming on in the 9th. After an opening walk, that looked like here we go again, he settled down, and got the next 3 outs rather handily to end the game. After the debacle on Friday night, this was a very nice win.

Key moment of the game: After scoring 1 run in the 1st the Brewers had 2nd and 3rd with one out in the top of the 2nd. Bryse Wilson was getting hit pretty hard at this point, and it looked like the Brewers may break the game open. The Pirates brought the infield in and Christian Yelich stroked a bullet that looked like it was headed to left field. Then Oneil Cruz stretched that 6’7 frame and made a great catch, continuing on to third base to easily double off, Jace Peterson. It was a great play by Cruz, but another base running gaffe by an opposing team, got the Pirates out of the inning. It seemed to settle down Wilson who had given up 4 hits and hit a batter, in the first two innings. Over the next 4 innings he gave up 1 run and 4 hits. If that play does not happen it is hard to tell how the game would have gone from there.

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have another chance to take 3 out of 4 from a team who slaughtered them in one game of the series. Quintana takes the hill for the Pirates today, which gives them a good chance. Cherrington said yesterday that the Pirates will be bringing up many accomplished Major League players in the coming days. No comment needed for that asinine remark.

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Pirates Morning Report

Final Score: Pirates 2 Brewers 19

Why The Pirates Lost: Contreres just didn’t have it last night, and it was just as well because nobody else did either. This is the third blow out of the season for the Pirates. They have given up 21, 18, and now 19 runs in a single game. In 4 other games, they have given up 10 runs or more. One thing about the Pirates they know how to lose. I wonder if there have been any seasons where the Pirates have given up 18 runs or more in 3 games. I am sure you won’t hear any of that coming out of the Pirate broadcast booth. It was fitting that this was Pirate charities night. Maybe Major League Baseball can give the Pirates some players, particularly some pitchers. Cruz can thank Derek (Nothing is going to get past me) Shelton, for challenging a call trailing 17-1, allowing Cruz to get an RBI. Did you notice that the umpire could barely keep a straight face when he announced the overturn?

Key Moment of The Game: The top of the 8th inning may have seen a little-known Major-League record. Someone with more time on their hands than I have may be able to find this out, but Cam Vieaux threw 48 pitches before he recorded his first out. I have to wonder if anybody else threw more before he recorded a single out. He finished the inning, which is just as amazing. He did come close to the most pitches thrown in one inning which is 61.

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. No one knows who is going to pitch today. Both clubs have asked Major League Baseball if they would allow pitching machines for at least 5 innings. There is only one thing certain about today’s game Cam Vieaux will not pitch. There is even uncertainty about whether or not the Pirates will even show up. They didn’t last night.