Tag: pittsburgh pirates

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Pirates Morning Report: Man, Was That Quick

Final Score: Pirates 4 Red Sox 2

Why The Pirates Won: For 5 innings Fenway Park was rockin’. Payton Tolle was making his Major League debut. He was mowing the Pirates down. He had given up one hit and walked 2. He struck out 8. In the top of the 2nd, he gave up a fluke double to Andrew McCutchen. This put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. He then struck out the next two batters on 7 pitches. He got Peguero to fly out to end the threat. The fans went crazy. Meanwhile, Paul Skenes was looking like Paul Skenes. The Pirates were looking like the Pirates. This all added up to a 2-0 lead for the Red Sox after 5 innings. The mood was festive. In the top of the 6th, Tolle got the first out. There was more hootin’ and hollerin’. In the next 7 pitches, he gave up singles to Nick Gonzales and Bryan Reynolds. Tolle was removed from the game, receiving a standing ovation. The Red Sox brought in Greg Weissert. In 4 pitches, he gave up back-to-back doubles to Tommy Pham and McCutchen. This gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead. The air was completely sucked out of the stadium. Suddenly, a big debut party became a sell out funeral. Skenes gave up a single in the 6th. He was erased on a caught stealing. Replay overturned a safe call. Skenes got a nice borderline call for a called 3rd strike to end his night. He gave up 1 earned run on 7 hits. He struck out 6 and walked 1. The bullpen protected the lead. The Pirates had a surprising opening game win.

Key Moments Of The Game: It was a big clutch performance by Paul Skenes. He kept his cool while all around him were panicking. In the bottom of the 2nd, after one out, he gave up 2 singles. He got out of that jam nicely. He got the next batter to hit into a force play. A steal of second put two runners in scoring position. He struck out the next batter. In the bottom of the 3rd, Alexander (I Can’t Field Or Hit But I am On The Team) Canario dropped a pop fly to center. I got it, I got it. Clang, I dropped it. A single put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Skenes got out of that jam by getting Alex Bergman to hit into a double play, putting a runner on third with 2 outs. He got Jarren Duran to fly out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 4th, the Red Sox finally broke through thanks to an Isiah Kiner-Falefa throwing error. This put runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs and the Red Sox leading 1-0. Skenes got a ground ball out to end the inning. Skenes gave up a home run to open the 5th. This gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. It was a party-like atmosphere at Fenway until the party-pooping 6th inning. The Pirates came away with a 4-2 win.

Next Game: Late afternoon, Red Sox in Boston. I would be remiss if I did not mention the AAA boys. They lost a member as Jack Suwinski went to the IL with an injured groin. I don’t think he got hurt swinging at pitches. The way the Pirates heal, I would assume he is out for the season. The remaining three had their typical game against the Red Sox last night. They went 1 for 9 with a walk. They did drive in the 4th run in the 8th to give the Pirates a little insurance run. Their ranks are down to three now. I just have a feeling the games are not going to be as much fun to watch. I can’t remember the last game when none of them started. It could happen soon. I am very sad.

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Pirates Morning Report: Skenes Dominates, Pirates Sweep Rockies

Final Score: Pirates 4 Rockies 0

Why The Pirates Won: In 27 innings the Rockies scored 1 run. Yesterday it was Paul Skenes who put a hurtin on the Rockies. He went 7 innings giving up 3 hits. He struck out 7 while walking 0. The Mattson and Santana duo finished up allowing a hit and a walk. The Pirates had the one big inning and it was enough. Jarod (I Made An Adjustment That Won’t Work Next Year) Triolo had the big hit. He hit a 2 out 3 run homer in the bottom of the 4th to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead. They added another run with a Henry Davis walk. He stole 2nd. IKF then laced a double to center to score Davis. The Pirates would only get one hit the rest of the game but the damage had been done. Thanks to Triolo the AAA boys were 2 for 8 with 3 RBI’s and 2 walks. It was a nice win as the Pirates head into a tough stretch of games

Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the 3rd two replay calls went against the Rockies. Braxton Fulford was ruled safe on a ground ball to Triolo. This was after a single by Kyle Karros. It looked like the Rockies were going to have 1st and 2nd with no outs. The Pirates challenged and the call was overturned. Then Skenes picked the runner off second. The Rockies challenged. They lost the challenge. The inning quickly went from 2 on and no outs to 2 outs and nobody on. Skenes struck out the next batter to end the inning. The Pirates had the 4 run 4th. The Rockies never threatened again getting only one other runner in scoring position.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. In the next 13 games the Pirates play all playoff contenders with the Cardinals the only team under .500. If the Pirates win 6 or 7 games I will be surprised. They will need at least a split with the Cardinals if that has any chance of happening. They finally feasted on a bad team. Even with the sweep they ended up 4-5 against the Rockies and the White Sox. We will see what they can do against the big boys.

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Pirates Morning Report: McCutchen, Pitching Stay Hot

Final Score: Pirates 5 Rockies 1

Why The Pirates Won: The pitching staff shutout the Rockies for another 8 and 2/3 innings before surrendering a run. Mike Burrows went 4 innings giving up 2 hits and a walk. He was taken out even though he had thrown just 57 pitches. Carmen Mlodzinski, Kyle Nicolas, and even Colin Holderman did a nice job the next 4 innings. They gave up only 2 hits. Yohan Ramirez got the first two outs of the 9th. He gave up a home run and the shutout was lost. The 5 Pirate pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts. The offense was led by Andrew McCutchen and the AAA boys. McCutchen hit a 2 run homer in the 2nd. Jared Triolo did the same in the 3rd. The AAA boys went 4 for 8 for the game. Two of them are now hitting over .200. This is the 3rd straight year that Triolo has hit well in August and September. If you want a player to hit big in meaningless games, he is your guy.

Key Moments Of The Game: The top of the 2nd was Burrow’s only shaky inning. The Rockies had 1st and 3rd with 2 out. Yanquiel Fernandez hit a weak roller down the 3rd base line. IKF made a nice play and threw him out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 2nd the Pirates opened with a bang. Pham a line drive single. McCutchen line drive home run right down the left field line for a quick 2-0 lead. The bottom of the 3rd opened the same way. IKF a single, followed by a 404 foot blast by none other than Jared Triolo. The Pirates led 4-0. They were not threatened the rest of the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rockies in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are on Roku TV today so I don’t know how much of the game I will see today. Paul Skenes is going today as the Pirates go for the much needed sweep. The AAA boys should be out in full force today. I expect to see at least 3 play. They have been on a bit of a roll lately. It still does not change the fact that they stink. There is no chance that any of them are really going to help the Pirates make the playoffs someday.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Double Their Pleasure

Final Score: Pirates 9 Rockies 0

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates shutout the Rockies with the double pitching performance of Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler. Ashcraft went 5 innings giving up just 1 hit. He struck out 6, walked 1 while throwing only 65 pitches. Chandler went the last 4 giving up 2 hits. He struck out 3, walking no one while throwing just 40 pitches. For a change the Pirates gave offensive support to such great pitching. They had 7 doubles and 3 players doubled their doubles by hitting home runs. Spencer Horwitz, Tommy Pham and hold on to your hats, Alexander Canario all went yard. The AAA boys had quite the game. They went 5 for 12. Jared Triolo has pulled his average up to .199. The pressure will be enormous for him the next game. Overall it was nice to see them bury the Rockies.

Key Moments Of The Game: Andrew McCutchen had the big hits early that got the Pirates rolling. In the bottom of the first he had a 2 out double that made the score 2-0. In the bottom of the second, back to back doubles by IKF and Horwitz made the score 3-0. McCutchen came up with runners on 1st and 3rd and 2 outs. He delivered another double and the Pirates led 5-0. Without those 2 big 2 out hits you never know how the game might have gone. The Pirates went long ball after that to win going away 9-0.

Next Game: Tonight, Rockies in Pittsburgh. After having some shaky outings previously Mike Burrows had a nice outing against the Cubs giving up 1 run over 5 innings. Even though the bullpen is well rested it would be nice to see Burrows throw 80 to 90 pitches if he is effective. It would also be nice to see the Pirates sweep the Rockies. They have a tough stretch over the next 13 games. The Cardinals on the road who are just so so. Then the Red Sox in Boston and the Dodgers and Brewers at home. If they go 6-7 during that stretch it will be a miracle.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Positive Report

I admit, this was a tough one. Let’s start with the man that the fans and media feel the most negative about, Ben Cherington. Two years ago he picked Paul Skenes over Dylan Crews. I for one thought he should have picked Crews. Boy, was I wrong. It’s too early to put Crews in the same category as Henry Davis but he has not produced at the MLB level. He has had some injuries but his slash line in 196 plate appearances is .209/.280/.360 for an OPS+ of 81. Last year he picked Konnor Griffin in the first round. At 19 years of age he is the no.1 prospect in all of baseball. He is in AA where he seems to be making the adjustment fine, getting 3 hits last night. Tremar Johnson who just turned 21 in June is doing better lately. In AA his line is .267/.347/.393 with 9 homers and 31 RBI’s.

The Pirate’ pitching staff is above league average in every important pitching stat except strike outs. I believe the Pirates should keep the pitching staff intact. The Pirates need offensive help but not as much as you think. If the Pirates had scored 4 runs in every game their record would be 68-60 at the moment. They would be right in the wild card hunt. Their league worse average is 3.51 per game. Scoring 4 runs per game would move them to 25th. This is just a half a run a game. They could easily do this in the free agent market. I do not see the need to weaken a strength.

Finally, the Pirates have 8 players whose OPS+ is between 99 and 91. This 1 to 9% below league average. Even though they have no one above league average it is the most they have had above 90. There are 34 games to go. If some of these players get hot the offense may have a nice stretch run. Of course these 8 players have to play. This blog is supposed to be all positive so I won’t mention who could be standing in their way.

Well there it is, a positive Pirate blog. I did my best. The Pirates open a 3 game series against the Rockies tonight. I have a feeling things will be back to normal tomorrow. I could be wrong and they might sweep the Rockies. If that happens there could be more positive blogs in the future. It would be a nice change.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pitching Staff Wins Another One

Final Score: Pirates 2 Blue Jays 1

Why The Pirates Won: The pitching staff was able to shut down one of the better hitting teams in baseball. They did it in a big way. Johan Oviedo went 5 innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits. He struck out 6 walking 1. The bullpen was even better going the last 4 innings. They gave up one hit and no walks. The Pirates eked out 2 runs in the first and they held up for the rest of the game. The AAA boys contributed nothing. They went 1 for 10 with a walk. They struck out 5 times. In the last 5 innings the Blue Jays sent only 16 men to the plate thanks to a double play ball. They were only able to get 3 men in scoring position for the game. The Pirate’s pitchers won this one.

Key Moments Of The Game: George Springer opened the game with a home run. In the bottom of the first Ronny Simon and Nick Gonzales struck out. Bryan Reynolds doubled on a soft liner down the left field line. Spencer Horwitz drew a 5 pitch walk. Tommy Pham ripped one down the left line for a double and surprisingly Horwitz scored from first base to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. There would have been more key moments if the Pirates had lost this one. The Pirates missed scoring opportunities in the 5th, 6th, and 7th. They had 8 hits to go along with 4 walks. They could only score the 2 runs. This time it did not cost them a win.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Rockies in Pittsburgh. I am going to do something very difficult tomorrow. I am going to try and write a positive blog about the Pirates. I can’t guarantee that I can do it but I am going to give it 100% effort. It will be quite a challenge.

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Pirates Morning Report: Mitch Keller, Consistently Inconsistent

Final Score: Pirates 3 Blue Jays 7

Why The Pirates Lost: Mitch Keller had a really bad outing. His control was lousy. He walked 3 and hit a batter. He got hit a lot. He gave up 5 runs on 7 hits including a home run. He threw 85 pitches in 3 and 1/3 innings. As usual the Pirates broadcast booth got it all wrong. They gave his overall stats for his last 6 outings, which are horrible. What they failed to mentioned is that two of those starts were pretty good. One was 5 and 2/3 innings giving up 2 runs. The other, 6 innings giving up 3 runs. Over the last 4 years his ERA+ has ranged from 106 to 98. Keller has shown over the years he can be very good or very bad. The perfect definition of consistently inconsistent. Really what difference does it make with that offense. They did manage 3 runs. WOW! They were 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position. The AAA boys were 2 for 7 with an RBI and 3 strikeouts. I will admit, the Blue Jays did flash some impressive leather especially center fielder Myles Straw. The bottom line is that the Pirate’s batters can’t control the strike zone. Therefore they stink.

Key Moment Of The Game: The score was 5-0 going into the bottom of the 2nd. Max Scherzer did not get some borderline calls and walked the first two batters of the inning. Joey Bart got an infield hit to load the bases. Up steps Jared AAA Triolo with no baseball awareness. He swings at 3 straight pitches out of the strike zone to strikeout. Great at bat Dead Tree. IKF grounds out to score a run. Ronny (Can I Please DH Since I Can’t Field) Simon popped out to end the inning. It was a golden opportunity to get back in the game. It would be their last.

Next game: In about 3 hours, Blue Jays in Pittsburgh. Johan Oviedo is going to get his 2nd start. Let’s hope he can go more than one inning. The Pirate offense continues to amaze. The offense is now 29 runs behind the 29th place Rockies. Despite some mild resurgence none of the AAA boys are hitting over .200. Will all 4 get to play today. I can hardly wait.

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Pirates Morning Report: Thank You Blue Jays Plus A Miracle

Just a note before I get into the game. The blog will be coming from San Diego. Unlike Pittsburgh a city that is lucky enough to have a Major League Baseball team. Thus the blog will be more mid morning in the eastern time zone.

Final Score: Pirates 5 Blue Jays 2

Why The Pirates Won: This game was gifted to them by the Blue Jays. They made 3 errors. They wild pitched a run in. They walked 6 Pirates. This included walking Jarod Triolo 3 times, say what? There were 2 miracles in the game. Alexander Canario got a hit AND an RBI. It was his 14th of the season. Henry Davis had an RBI to stay 2 ahead of Canario. What a tandem. Paul Skenes was not great but solid going 6 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 6 hits. More importantly he struck out 8 against a team that does not strike out much. The bullpen finished up the game nicely giving up 1 hit while adding 3 strikeouts.

Key Moments Of The Game: Despite the Blue Jays generosity the Pirates had to look like the Pirates. Twice they had a runner on third base with one out and could not bring him home. The big moment of the game came in the top of the 8th. Kyle (Hold Your Breath) Nicolas came into the game. George Springer opened with an infield single to deep short. Nicolas got ahead of the next hitter Addison Barger 0 and 2. Four pitches later it was 3 and 2. On a four seam fastball, pretty much right down the middle, he grounded into a double play. Ty France hit a 100 MPH line drive that Canario somehow caught to end the inning. In the bottom of the eighth the Blue Jays went Keystone Cops mode giving the Pirates 2 more runs. Thank you Blue Jays for taking pity on the Pirates and their fans.

Next Game: Tonight, Blue Jays in Pittsburgh. Max Scherzer goes for the Blue Jays tonight. The Pirates are sending out Mitch Keller. The AAA boys had a pretty good game last night. They went 2 for 8 with 2 RBI’s. They walked 3 times and scored 3 of the 5 Pirates runs. How many will play tonight. Could it be possible that we could get all 4 in one game. We could return the favor to the Blue Jays and just give game 2 away. Playing all 4 would be a good start.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bullpen Shakily Prevents Three Peat

Final Score: Pirates 9 Rockies 5

Why The Pirates Won: Spencer Horwitz had a huge game enabling the Pirates to pull out the 3rd game. He hit 2 home runs and drove in 6 runs. The game had the eerie feeling of game 2. Mitch Keller had pitched a solid 5 innings. He had given up 1 run on 4 hits. He struck out 4 and had not walked anyone. The Pirates had taken an 8-1 lead on Horwitz’s 2nd homer. In the bottom of the 6th Keller walked his first batter of the game. Then BAM, Keller gave up 3 straight home runs to make it 8-5, and you thought here we go again. Carmen Mlodzinski got out of the inning giving up a two out double. The Pirates held on for the 9-5 win to salvage the final game of the series, but it wasn’t pretty.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates were able to score one run in the top of the eighth without getting a hit. Two hit by pitches and a bonehead play by their first basemen netted a run. The last three innings the the Pirates made it interesting. Mlodzinski gave up a single and a walk to start the 7th. He quickly got 2 outs on a fly out and ground out. He got a generous 3rd strike call to end the inning. Isaac Mattson struck out the first batter on a timeout violation. He proceeded to boot a ground ball and then walk a batter. He went 3-1 on the next batter but got him to fly out. He got the third out on an easy pop out. Dennis Santana came in the bottom of the 9th to protect a 4 run lead again. He did it this time but not without the help of some great defense by the Pirates. He hit the first batter. The next batter lined it to right. Jack AAA Swuwinski made a nice leaping catch. Jared AAA Triolo made a nice play on a slow chopper to 3rd. The last batter hit a liner but right at Tommy Pham to end the game. It was not a three peat.

Next Game: Tonight, Giants in Pittsburgh. Johan Oviedo is going to make his 2025 debut tonight. Yesterday the AAA boys went 1 for 7 with 3 walks and 2 hit by pitches. They scored 2 runs. Why on earth anyone would walk them I have no idea. Their highest batting average in the group is now .168. I am sure they are going to get plenty of playing time while better players continue to stay in AAA. We will continue to keep everyone posted.

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Pirates Morning Report: Can’t Beat The Bad Teams

Final Score: Pirates 5 Rockies 8

Why The Pirates Lost: For the 2nd game in a row the Pirates blew a lead. It was 4 runs this time not 9. Paul Skenes was breezing along the first 5 innings giving up 2 hits and a walk. He had struck out 8. He had thrown 73 pitches. In the bottom of the 6th all hell broke loose. He threw 21 pitches. He did not get anyone out. The next to last batter he faced he threw a fastball right down the middle. It was hit out for a 3 run homer. Braxton Ashcraft didn’t fair much better and the Rockies had a 6 run inning. They added on in the 7th and 8th to win. All of this wasted a great day at the plate for Liover Peguero. He had a 3 home run day and drove in all 5 runs. Reynolds and IKF each got 2 hits. The rest of the lineup went 0 for 21 with 4 walks. At one point in the game the Pirates had 3 players in the lineup with batting averages under .175. They were led by Jack Suwinskl’s splendid .104. Will it ever end?

Key Moment Of The Game: The Rockies had tied the game 4-4 in the bottom of the 6th. The was nothing cheap about any of the hits. They had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Ashcraft struck out the next batter. Austin Nola then hit this little 62 MPH blooper right down the right field line into no man’s land. It wasn’t even close to being caught. This scored the go ahead run putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. A ground out scored the 6th run in the inning. The Rockies never looked back and had their 2nd win in a row.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rockies in Colorado. There are only 4 teams in baseball with worse records than the Pirates. They have lost 5 in a row to two of them. Just another sports mystery. Mitch Keller will try to break the streak today. The Pirates will throw out their finest AAA lineup to give him the best support that they can. The AAA players include Triolo, Canario, Davis, and Suwinski, We will see how many play today.