Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: Whoa! The Pirates Won?

Final Score: Pirates 7 Giants 6 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Won: The original opening sentence for this segment would have been the Pirates couldn’t hit, couldn’t pitch and couldn’t field. Other than that, they played a pretty good game. However, in the last two innings the Giants couldn’t do any of those things, plus went brain dead. Oniel Cruz’s night sums up this game perfectly. In the first inning he dropped a pop up that allowed 2 runs to score. He got two-line drive hits his first two times up at the plate resulting in a single and a double. His next two at bats went like this. He took a strike. He swung at a ball. He fouls a strike. He swung at a ball. He takes a strike. He swings at a ball way inside. This resulted in a strike out and a weak pop up between first and home plate. In the bottom of the ninth, he ripped a low inside pitch for a double to tie the game at 6-6 to send it into extra innings. Even though Martin Perez got a bad break when Cruz dropped that pop up in the first, he was working from behind for his entire 4 and 1/3 innings throwing 98 ineffective pitches. The bullpen gave up another 2 runs and Giants led 6-2 going into that eventful bottom of the 9th.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the bottom of the ninth, the Pirates had rallied to make the score 6-3, thanks to a walk, a double, a walk and a single, that had the bases loaded with 1 out. Andrew McCutchen hit a ground ball to short that had the potential to be a double play ball. In his urgency to turn the double play Marco Luciano did not field the ball cleanly getting nobody out and a run scored to make it 6-4. Bryan Reynolds hit a ground ball a little more toward hole at short where the force out was made but it was not hit hard enough to turn two. This enabled Cruz to get his big 2-out hit that tied the game 6-6. The Giants played like they did not realize they had a 4-run lead. In the top of the 10th the Giants moved the ghost runner over to third with one out. David Bedar went 3-0 on the next batter, LaMonte Wade Jr. Taking a page out of the Andy Haines hitting book, he takes 2 strikes essentially right down the middle. This, when all the Giants needed was a fly ball to get the run in. Wade fouled off the next pitch before striking out on a vicious splitter for the 2nd out. Bednar got the next batter to fly out to end the inning. Nick Gonzales ended the game, singling up the middle on the first pitch in the bottom of the 10th and the Pirates had an amazing come from behind win.

Next Game: Tonight, the Giants in Pittsburgh. Jared Jones goes tonight for the Pirates. He has not been quite as dominant in his more recent starts. It would be nice to see him have a great outing with 8 to 10 strike outs and no gopher balls. The Giants are going to counter with Blake Snell coming off the IL. Will he be a little rusty? The good news is we won’t be seeing Tellez. Can we make it 3 in a row?

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Pirates Morning Report: All Is Forgiven When You Win

Final Score: Pirates 3 Cubs 2

Why The Pirates Won: This was a very big win for the Pirates that could have easily been a very embarrassing loss. The Pirates had 10 hits, 6 walks, but could only score 3 runs. They were 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position. They left 12 men on base. They had runners on base in every inning. They had 1st and 3rd nobody out in the top of the 8th but could not get a much needed run across the plate. Rowdy Tellez was up 4 times and made 6 outs. The Cubs only had 2 hits to go along with 4 walks and 2 hit batsmen but managed 2 runs. They scored on 2 sacrifice flies and were 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position. On the pitching side Mitch Keller went a solid 6 innings and threw only 83 pitches. The Pirates decided to go to the bullpen and this time it was a good decision. Both Colin Holderman and Aroldis Chapman threw clean 7th and 8th innings and looked dominate doing it. David Bednar came on in the bottom of the 9th and after 2 outs committed the cardinal sin of putting the tying run on base via the base on balls. Bednar got Patrick Wisdom to pop out down the line to shallow right field and Pirates escaped with a victory. All is forgiven when you win.

Key Moment Of The Game: The score was tied 1-1 going into the top of the 5th. With one out Andrew McCutchen walked. Bryan Reynolds hit a sharp ground ball that was knocked down by the 1st baseman, but he could not hold on to it. Reynolds was called out, but the call was overturned. Jameson Taillon then wild pitched the runners to 2nd and 3rd. He got the big strike out on Oneil Cruz to get the 2nd out. Craig Counsell then decided to make a pitching change. A little surprising considering Taillon had handled Connor Joe pretty well striking him out and popping him out in his 2 at bats. Unlike the Pirates’ move, going to bullpen, this did not work out. He brought in Hayden Wesneski who has been a solid reliever for the Cubs. He walked Connor Joe. Nick Gonzales ripped a 108 MPH single up the middle, giving the Pirates a 3-1 lead. The bullpen came through for the final 3 innings, giving the Pirates the series win.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Giants in Pittsburgh. The Pirates start a stretch of 36 games, 18 at home and 18 on the road. They have 6 off days during this stretch. It will take them through the end of June and into the mid 70 game mark. They have shown some signs of life during these last 10 days. With all the off days this can only help the pitching. Will the Pirates ever put the best 9 players on the field. It remains to be seen.

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Pirates Morning Report: Falter Was Up To The Task, Too Bad Shelton Wasn’t

Final Score: Pirates 0 Cubs 1

Why The Pirates Lost: It was a great pitcher’s dual as Barry (Not My) Falter matched the best pitcher in baseball Shota Imanaga pitch for pitch. Imanaga gave up 4 hits but 3 of them were of the very weak variety, only walked 1 and struck out 7, while throwing 88 pitches in 7 innings. Falter gave up 3 hits but one of those was another pop up that should have been caught. He walked 2, struck out 2, throwing 83 pitches in 7 and 2/3 innings of work. Shelton pretty much slept though another game. In the top of the 8th he did not pinch hit for Alika Williams with Oniel Cruz when a right hander was brought in to start the inning. Colin Holderman got out of the bottom of the 8th jam throwing only 9 pitches. He should have come out for the bottom of the 9th. Instead, David Bednar pitched and after one out gave up a double and the game winning single. Yes, there was the close controversial call at the plate that replay upheld. It was not as obvious as Matt Capps made it out to be. Capps also described Imanaga has having a nice start to his career. That is like saying Shohei Ohtani is a pretty good player. The question to ask about that play is why did Bart take the ball out of his glove in the first place. Just make sure you hold on to it. It was a tough loss but the Pirates certainly did not do much to try and win the game.

Key Moments Of The Game: The decisions of Derek Shelton. The lack of moves and some moves that he made were all bad. You could argue that he should have left Falter in the game in the bottom of the 8th. Yon Gomes may have batted if Holderman had not been brought it. Holderman wound up walking the more dangerous hitter in Michael Busch. Without question this game was kept from going into extra innings or being a Pirate win by the manager.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cubs in Chicago. Jameson Taillon will go to mound for the Cubs, another one that the Pirates let get away. The Pirates will counter with Mitch Keller who has had one great and one good outing in his last 2 starts. No matter what happens tomorrow the road trip at least has not been a disaster. In the 6 games, the Pirates have been competitive in 5 of them. That is not bad considering you are playing the top of your division. Having said all of that it would be nice to see a winning road trip and a series win. The next 36 games, the Pirates play 18 at home and 18 on the road with lots of days off. They play some great teams and average teams during the stretch. We are heading into June. This team needs to get on a roll.

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Pirates Morning Report: We Now Need To Pray For Rain

Final Score: Pirates 9 Cubs 3

Why The Pirates Won: Two words, Paul Skenes. It does not get better than this, 6 innings, no runs, no hits, 1 walk, and 11 strikeouts. The Cubs only put 7 balls in play. Only one of those made it to the outfield. Back in the late 40’s and early 50’s the Boston Braves had this dynamic pitching duo of Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain. In 1948 they won 39 games. In 1950 they won 41 games. During that time frame the phrase was coined, Spahn and Sain and then pray for rain. Even though it does not rhyme Pirate fans better start thinking the same way. Jones and Skenes and then pray for rain. Yes, the Pirates bats did come alive and scored 9 runs, which was more than enough, even with the B squad bullpen shakily finishing up. Connor Joe led the way getting 3 hits, with both Jared Triolo and Yasmani Grandal having 3 RBIs apiece. Tellez did get a couple of hits and hit the ball hard his last at bat, but he still stinks. Same for Suwinski. Overall, a great day for the Pirates, winning the first two games of the series and improving to 21-25.

The Key Moment Of The Game: It was that first inning, baby. First batter 4 pitch strike out the last pitch 100 MPH four-seam fastball. Second batter 6 pitch strike out the last pitch 100 MPH four-seam fastball. Third batter 3 pitch strike out the last pitch 100 MPH four-seam fastball. After that inning you knew it was going to be the Pirates’ day. The Pirate broadcast booths were wetting their pants. Joe Block on the radio side said that this was Skenes’s 2nd major league start 248 times. Greg Brown on the television side was almost dumb founded because he did not have to make up stuff to come up with something positive to say about the Pirates. It was just flat out a great day for Pirates baseball. Enjoy it because today……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Next Game: This afternoon, Cubs in Chicago. Today the Pirates may be facing the best pitcher in baseball, Shota Imanaga. At the moment, he leads all of baseball in ERA+ with a whopping 429 and FIP at 2.28. He is left-handed which means there is a good chance that both Suwinski and Tellez will be on the bench. The man faced with the challenge of going head-to-head with this guy will be Barry (No Luck) Falter. Can the left-handed journeyman defeat the left-handed ace. If that happens it could be considered the win of the year. Of course, there is always the possibility it could rain. Excuse me, while I go pray.

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Pirates Morning Report: Send Down Suwinski, DFA Tellez PLEASE

Final Score: Pirates 5 Cubs 4

Why The Pirates Won: A battling start by Jared Jones as he struggled through 6 innings giving up 3 runs, 7 hits, walking 0, striking out 7 while throwing 91 pitches. There were only two 3 up 3 down innings, but when he needed an out Jones was able to persevere. The Cubs were only 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position. The bullpen did the job, with very encouraging performances by Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar. Chapman threw 17 pitches, with 12 being strikes in a clean 7th inning. Bednar had a 3 up 3 down 9th with not even a loud foul being hit off of him. The Pirates offense thanks to a misplay in right field had just enough to pull out this tight win. What was not encouraging was the performances of Rowdy (They Are Putting Me In For Defensive Purposes?) Tellez and Jack (6 Swings And Misses, 3 Called Strikes, 3 Foul Balls) Suwinski. By the way that adds up to 4 strike outs in 4 at bats. Neither one should be playing in the majors at the moment. It is hard to win games with only 11 position players. Somehow the Pirates managed to pull out this game to improve their record to 20-25.

Key Moment Of The Game: Going into the bottom of the 8th the Pirates were leading 5-3 when Colin Holderman took the mound. The first pitch he hit the batter. Cody Bellinger on an 0-2 pitch hit a little dribbler in front of the plate. Yasmani Grandal’s throw was not good, but our defensive specialist Mr. Tellez made a half ass effort on trying to catch the ball. It got past him allowing the Cubs to have runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Holderman got the next batter to hit a sacrifice fly and the score was 5-4. From the Pirates point of view, Holderman miraculously struck out Ian Happ who crushes Pirate pitching. Just to make things interesting he walked the next batter and fell behind 2-0 on Nick Madrigal. He got 2 strikes and then Madrigal hit a weak ground ball up the middle that Alika Williams made a nice play on to end the inning. The Cubs scored a run without getting a hit, but it could have been much worse. Bednar pitched the magnificent 8 pitch 9th and the Pirates escaped with the win.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cubs in Chicago. Paul Skenes makes his 2nd start and hopefully will be able to lead the Pirates to the 2nd win of the series. Last night was a huge win for the Pirates but can they keep the momentum going in of all places Chicago. It will be hard, especially when you have only 11 major league players to choose from to start the game.

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Pirates Morning Report: Giving Up The Gopher Ball

Final Score: Pirates 2 Brewers 10

Why The Pirates Lost: About 2-3 starts ago Martin Perez was described as a pitcher who knows how to keep the ball in the ballpark on the opening of a Pirates broadcast. I guess they will have to come up with a new description of Perez. He gave up 5 home runs yesterday and the stats were amazing. Home Run No. 1 350 feet at 103 MPH. Home Run No. 2 370 feet at 104 MPH. Home Run No. 3 380 feet at 100 MPH. Home Run No. 4 425 feet at 106 MPH. Home No. 5 the grand finale, 441 feet at 108 MPH. Each one was hit longer was hit 100 MPH or harder. The last one, the crack of the bat was heard in Chicago. Nine runs on five home runs making the game a blast for the Brewers. Compare that with the last out of the game. Rowdy Tellez, 227 feet at 86 MPH. Statcast said that there was one little league park in Guam where that would have been a home run. The Pirates were not up to the task yesterday and fell to 19-25.

The Key Moment Of The Game: Any time Perez threw a pitch. In fact, things got so bad that the umpires were thinking of allowing Perez to use some kind of foreign substance to help him out. The Pirate broadcast booth was saying what a big game this was even though it was only May. Certainly, the Pirates didn’t feel that way, the way they played. The booth couldn’t get over the fact that Conner Jo leads the team in RBI’s despite playing so little. They must not realize how much the rest of the team stinks. Jo’s RBI total puts him around 60th in the league. After a promising start the road trip is now 1-2.

Next Game: Tonight, the Cubs in Chicago. For the next 2 nights, the big guns are going for the Pirates, Jones and Skenes. Could this start the turn around? Will Rowdy Tellez start all 4 games and extend his hitless streak to 0 for 35. I know he can do it if given the opportunity. He still has a long way to go to get to the 0 for 54 streak of Chris Davis. There is not much left to play for, so let Tellez go at.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Game They Should Have Won

Pirates Morning Report: Pirates 4 Cubs 5 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates could not come through when it mattered the most. This was a close, hard fought, well-played game. The Pirates had the game right in their grasp in the bottom of the 9th and failed. There was a lot to like about this game. It was the Pirates best defensive game of the year. They made no errors and made many spectacular plays that kept the Cubs off the board. If this would have been a win, the top of the 7th would have been the key moment of the game. Jack Suwinski and Oneil Cruz made great plays back-to-back to keep the game tied at 2-2. Barry (You Know What You Are Going To Get) Falter pitched his standard 81 pitch 6 innings just giving up a 2-run homer in the 1st inning. Even though his 6th inning looked pretty good, he was taken out again after a low pitch count. It is strange because right now the worst part of this team according to WAR is the bullpen. The Pirate bullpen ranks 26th and the four teams behind them are all in last place in their respective divisions. It is time to set the record straight here. The offense no question is abysmal, but this idea that the pitching is great is false. At the moment this is just an average pitching staff. In the three big categories, run prevention, true outcome results and ERA+, they are just a little above or a little below league average. Certainly, they are doing better than the hitters but this is far from some kind of an elite staff.

Key Moment Of The Game: This is really painful. The Pirates loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th with 1 out and the score tied 2-2. Shortstop Nico Hoerner made a spectacular play on a ground ball to keep the winning run from scoring from second that saved the game. None the less, eventually, the Pirates loaded the bases with one out. Bryan Reynolds swung at the first pitch that was halfway between his big toe and knee just dribbling it out in front of the plate. They forced out the runner at home and almost threw Reynolds out at first. His mother was seen vomiting in the aisle. Oneil Cruz was able to work the count to 3-1, but then tried to pull a pitch on the outer third of the plate and flew out to right field. The Cubs scored 3 in the top of the 10th and the Pirates countered with a 2-run homer by Connor Joe, but it was not enough as the Pirates fell to 18 and 23.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Milwaukee. This road trip of 7 games, may determine if this team has any hope of having a successful season. I not sure if even 3-4 will be good enough, but anything worse will certainly put the Pirates in a hole they may never get out. In the last 25 games the Pirates have scored over 4 runs just three times. The sad thing is, they lost one of those games, thanks to tonight’s starting pitcher Mitch Keller. He did have one great outing last time and he will probably need to do again if the Pirates are going to have any chance. How much longer are we going to have to watch Rawhide Rowdy Rally Killing Tellez. His last 7 games he is hitting .063. Steve Blass had a lifetime batting average of .177. Get the point.

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Pirates Morning Report: Overcoming Ten Walks

Final Score: Pirates 10 (NOT A MISPRINT) Cubs 9

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates brought the home run ball out of a long hibernation to hit 5 that accounted for all of the Pirate runs. Connor Joe, 3 run homer, Oneil Cruz, solo homer, Michael Taylor, 2 run homer, Yasmani Grandal, 3 run homer and last but certainly not least Andrew McCutchen solo home run, that was the deciding run in the game. Paul Skenes had a little bit of nerves in his opening major league start and who could blame him, but he showed enough to see that he is the real deal. His next start will most likely be on the road which I think will be a good thing. The Pirate bullpen blew a 6-1 lead by walking in 6 runs in the top of the 5th. All told they hit a batter, threw at one point 16 straight pitches out of the strike zone, walked 6 batters in the inning and all of this happened after there were 2 outs. This turned a 6-1 lead into an 8-6 deficit going into the bottom of the 5th.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the bottom of the 5th there was a runner on 2nd base with two outs and Nick Gonzales came to the plate. He fell behind in the count 1 and 2 then battled to a 3-2 count. On the 7th pitch of the at bat he took a ball that just barely missed outside. In my view the call could have gone either way but this time it went the Pirate’s way. Yasmani Grandal took a 94 MPH fastball on the inner third of the plate belt high and blasted it into the right field stands to quickly give the Pirates lead again 9-8. McCutchen got a solo blast in the 6th and bullpen somehow held on to that lead going into the top of the 9th. David Bednar quickly gave up a double and a single to put runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs. A sacrifice fly, stolen base, and a ground out to the right side of the infield put a runner on 3rd with Cody Bellinger coming to bat. On a pitch that was very close to the same location that he hit the home run off Jared Jones the day before, he just got under it to fly it 337 feet to Jack Suwinski, to let the Pirates escape with a 10-9 much needed victory.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cubs in Pittsburgh. Was this the game that begins the turnaround for this anemic offense. Much maligned hitting coach Andy Haines was happy, but he did say he did not think McCutchen’s process was all that good on his game deciding home run. Can the Pirates win a series against a division contender? Who knows, only The Shelton knows. I can’t wait to see the goofy Sunday lineup. Will Tellez or Alika Williams bat clean up? Enquiring minds want to know. What aging veteran will get rested today, maybe Oneil Cruz, after all a right hander is pitching today. I can hardly wait.

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Pirates Morning Report: No More Bottom Fodder

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cubs 7

Why The Pirates Lost: Admittedly some hard luck on the field but again the bats failed miserably once again. They were able to score 2 runs in the first on one hit thanks to an error and 2 walks. Rally killing Rowdy Tellez was in the middle of 3 potential run scoring innings and did not do well. In the first with runners on first and second and one out he walked. That’s fine. In the third with a runner on second and no outs he flied to left field failing to move the runner over. Bad. In the fifth with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out he popped out, infield fly rule. Worse. That’s right analytics department put a struggling .194 hitter who has had 3 hits in his last 17 at bats, “slugging” .235 and put him batting cleanup. Please show me the numbers that says that is a good move. This guy should not be playing at all let alone batting FOURTH. Jarred Jones did not have his best outing but still managed to have a quality start going 6 innings giving up 2 earned runs, 7 hits, walking 2, while striking out 4, throwing 87 pitches. Hunter Stratton came in the 7th and had one of those innings. There was one hard hit ball but everything else just found the hole, putting the Pirates down 7-2, and this game was over. I have a new game for the fans at the stadium. Guess what inning the Pirates are going to score all of their runs. If you guess right, you get 2 free tickets. I wonder if anybody would play.

Key Moment Of The Game: Going into the top of the 5th the Pirates were still clinging to that 2-1 lead. With one out Nico ( I Spell My Last Name Funny) Hoerner single sharply to left field. The next batter flew out to left field. Cody Bellinger hit a line drive into the right field corner. Reynolds quickly got it out of the corner and threw a strike to Oneil Cruz who ran all the way over to the right field foul line to take the throw. He threw a perfect one hop strike to the plate that beat the runner by at least 10 feet. For whatever reason, Yasmani Grandal decided to sweep his glove across the runner rather than just hold it there or even use a two hand tag. When the glove continued to go across Grandal’s body out came the ball. At that very moment the air simply went out of this ball club. It was the perfect play ruined by a careless tag. That’s the best I can do because I really don’t know what to call it. From that point on it was just the Cubs game. Some spectacular free agent signings there Cherrington. Grandal, Tellez, and Gonzales, who Cherrington feels will definitely pitch again before he turns 40.

Next Game: Tonight, the Cubs, in Pittsburgh. Does anyone know who is starting for the Pirates tonight. I haven’t been able to find anything anywhere. I don’t think it will make a difference anyway. The Pirates won’t score that much. I’m not sure I’m going to watch. Even though Pirate management seems unphased, I just can’t take it anymore.

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Pirates Morning Report: One Big Inning Not Enough This Time

Final Score: Pirates 4 Angels 5

Why The Pirates Lost: Even though it was not a grand slam, Oneil Cruz cleared the bases with a two out double and Connor Joe followed with a single to score Cruz, giving the Pirates a 4-run 5th inning. This time it was not enough. The other 8 innings they got 3 hits, no walks, and struck out 13 times. Thirteen out of 24 outs were strikeouts. The right fielder of the Angels was seen nodding off a couple of times. Here are the 12 position players batting averages over the last 15 games. Grandal has only batted 9 times with an .111 average. Get ready to be amazed. From 1st to worst: Cruz .327 Jo .292 Williams .239 Reynolds and Hayes .211 Bart .197 Tellez .189 Triolo .188 McCutchen .180 Suwinski .167 Olivares .143 Taylor .111. Eight of the 13 position players are not hitting over .200 over the last 15 games. It is a wonder that the Pirates have won any games over the last 2 weeks. Perez yesterday was not sharp and was charged with 4 runs on 8 hits in 5+ innings. Luis Ortiz came in and quickly got racked to turn a 4-2 lead into a 5-4 deficit that these anemic bats could not overcome. The Pirates are 17-21 with the Cubs and the Brewers on the horizon.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates had just taken a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 5th. The Angels had the big break back inning, and it was not cheap. A 90MPH ground ball that just got through the infield started the inning. A 102 MPH liner to left put runners on 1st and 2nd knocking Perez out of the game. Shelton called on Luis Ortiz. In the past, this has been a good move considering the contrast in styles and Ortiz being a right hander. Like most things recently this was not the case this time. Pitch 2 a 107 MPH single to left, score 4-3 Pirates. Pitch 3 a 106 MPH double to left, score tied 4-4. Pitch 8 a 98 MPH 370 feet sacrifice fly, score 5-4 Angels. In the blink of an eye the Angels broke back, and the Pirates never challenged that lead.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Cubs in Pittsburgh. The Pirates announced yesterday that Paul Skenes is going to pitch Saturday. Big whoop. What’s he going to do, pitch 6 scoreless innings so the game will be 0-0 after 6. Unless the Pirates find a way to start scoring runs they could have 4 Hall of Famers pitching and they would lose. Three players should be off this team come 6:40 Friday night. It won’t happen but the season most likely will be over if management does not get some new blood on this team to get this offense going. What a 38 game disaster so far.