Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: Foul Lines Are The Pirates Friends

Final Score: Pirates 7 Nationals 6 Whew!

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates knew how to use the foul lines, while putting up an early 7-1 lead after 4 innings. Quinn Priester had just pitched a solid 3 innings retiring all 9 batters he faced. The top of the 5th he gave up a solo home run, no big deal, easily retiring the other 3 batters. But in the top of the 6th an all too familiar pattern raised its ugly head. He could not get anybody out. Walked the first batter. A 100 MPH double was next. Next pitch a 105 MPH home run. Two pitches later a 93 MPH ground ball single to left. In a blink of an eye the score was 7-5, with no outs. Out of the game went Priester with his 9.00 ERA intact. According to the Pirate web site he had made progress. In came Ryan (Who Is Definitely Better Than I Thought He Would Be) Borucki to shakily put out the fire, thanks to a double play ball. Then there was the debut, of Nationals pitcher Jackson Rutledge. He gave up 4 runs in the first inning on 6 hits, but two of the hits were pop flies down the left field line that were fair by no more than 6 to 12 inches. He gave up a 2-run home run to Bryan Reynolds in the bottom of the 4th that hit the right field foul pole. If those 3 balls are just 1 foot left or right, he may have given up only 2 runs instead of 7. To top things off, in the 4th inning, his catcher hit him in the head trying to throw a runner out at 2nd base. The ball went off Rutledge’s head out to shallow right field. It is an understatement to say that this was not his night.

Key Moment Of The Game: David Bednar came into the top of the 9th with the score 7-5. After Alika (You See Why Tampa Bay Let Me Go) Williams dropped a foul pop up, Bednar quickly got into trouble. He walked that batter, who should have out, gave up two singles and the score was 7-6 with runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out. A chopping ground ball that the Pirates could only get the runner going to second put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Then the battles began. Pinch hitter IIdemaro Vargas worked a 7-pitch walk to load the bases. This brought up C. J. Abrams. Bednar blew a 97.5 MPH fastball right by him over the heart of the plate on a 3-2 count. Mercifully, Lane Thomas swung at the first pitch, flying out to center field, and the Pirates had a very fortunate 7-6 win.

Next Game: This afternoon, Nationals in Pittsburgh. The Pirates need to do better than this but the worst thing that will happen is they will get a series split. Mitch Keller will start today. Do you think he will be alright pitching in less than a week? Frankly, I think his arm is literally going to fall off in the bottom of the 4th. I think the guy that needs the rest is Bednar. Bednar should not pitch for a least 2 games in a row, no matter what the circumstances, for the rest of the season. Of course, we all know that the Shadow knows best.

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Pirates Morning Report: What A Difference A Day Makes

Final Score: Pirates 5 Nationals 1

Why The Pirates Won: This was a pitching win. If the Pirates pitching does not shut down the Nationals, this could have been known as the game that got away. The Pirate batters were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and wound-up stranding 15 runners. If the Nationals had been able to generate any offense, this game could have been a disaster. All is forgiven when you win. Josh Palacios hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd to get things going for the Pirates. Naturally, the Pirate broadcast booth was effusive with praise for Palacios making him sound like he was the 2nd coming of Dave Parker. Here is his slash line, .224/.269/.409 for an OPS+ of 80 and a WAR of -0.4. If this guy is playing next year, it will be another wasted season. He might make an acceptable utility/bench guy but even that is really stretching it. I will give him, that he has had some big hits this year, but it is not enough to think that he would be a major part of a playoff contending team. The Pirates were able scratch out 3 more runs with 2 of the runs scoring on outs. This was a night for the pitchers. Baily (Last Night Was Not My) Falter pitched a solid 6 innings giving up only 1 run on 4 hits, walking 1, striking out 4. The bullpen gave up no runs the rest of the way with only Mlodzinski having a shaky inning, being bailed out by a strong throw by Josh Palacios to nail a runner at the plate. I know there he is again, but he still stinks. It was a nice bounce back win by the Pirates, but they need to keep the momentum going.

Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the 4th with the score 2-0 Pirates, Falter had his only shaky inning. After getting a routine ground ball out, he served up a hanging 85 MPH slider to Lane Thomas who drilled it 108 MPH to left field. Bryan Reynolds made a great over the shoulder catch that as it turned out saved at least 1 run. The Nationals got some 2 out lightening going with a single, double, single, to score their run. The last 2 hits were drilled well over a 100 MPH. The single was hit so hard that even with 2 outs the runner could not score from 2nd base. The final out was recorded on another hard hit ball on the ground that Ke’ Bryan Hayes made a nice play to force the runner at second that ended the inning. From that point on Falter retired the final 6 batter he faced.

Next Game: Tonight, the Nationals in Pittsburgh. Even though it does not say this on the Pirate “official” website, that gets updated about every 3 days, I believe that Quinn Priester is going to start tonight. Let’s hope that he can get off the run an inning schneid. The Pirates stand at 67 wins. They will have to win 8 of their last 17 games to get to the 75 win mark which would be a 13 game improvement from last year. They need to win as many games at home as possible because they have a tough 9 game road trip coming up. Can Derek Shelton inspire this team? Hell no, they will have to do it themselves.

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Pirates Morning Report: Base Running 101

Final Score: Pirates 2 Nationals 6

Why The Pirates Lost: This one is easy. They couldn’t pitch, they couldn’t hit, they couldn’t field, and they couldn’t run the bases. But enough of the Pirates, the Nationals put on quite a display on the bases themselves. First, Keibert Ruiz singled to right field and then had designs of stretching it into a double. He put on the brakes about 30 feet from the bag and tried to get back to first but was out by a mile. Later in the game, Dominic Smith hits a ball off the wall in right center field, that if you heard Greg Brown tell it, Josh Palacios bobbled the ball on purpose. Smith, who runs a 7 sec. 40-yard dash, saw this and tried to go third. He was thrown out at third by a mile. The Pirates not to be out done, had runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs and the score was 2-1 Nationals in the bottom of the third. Then Connor Joe got picked off first and Bryan Reynolds tried to score and was thrown out easily. Greg Brown thought this was not a planned play. The Pirate pitching stunk as any pitcher who pitched more than 1 inning gave up a home run. We’re not going to mention any names here just to have some respect for their families and any children they might be involved. The Pirate bats were just as bad. They could only muster 2 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, while striking out 10 times. Then there was the double play that wasn’t. Luis Garcia hit a ground ball to 2nd that Liover Peguero fed perfectly to Alika Williams to start what would have been an inning ending double play. Instead of setting himself and throwing a hard strike to first base, he came flying across the bag, half stumbling, throwing weakly to 1st enabling the lumbering 6’2″ 220 lb. Garcia to beat it out, allowing the 4th run to score.

Key Moment Of The Game. The score was 6-1. going into the bottom of the 7th and the Pirates could only scrape together 1 run on 2 doubles and a walk. It was simply their last chance to get back in the game and they could not get the big hit. Other than the home runs that were given up, all the runs the Nationals scored and all the runs the Pirates did not score could all be attributed to a lack of baseball sense by the Pirates. Coaches, where are you? Who knows, only The Shadow knows.

Next Game: Tonight, the Nationals in Pittsburgh. A very disappointing start to the homestand. It was not so much about the loss, as it was on just how badly the Pirates played. Hopefully this was nothing more than a glitch, with the Pirates righting the ship tonight. The Pirates have not announced a pitcher. 75 wins is in jeopardy.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Tried But Just Couldn’t Do It

Final Score: Pirates 2 Braves 5

Why The Pirates Lost: This was a bullpen failure. In 2 and 2/3 innings they gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. This erased a very good performance by Luis Ortiz. He pitched 5 and 1/3 innings giving up just 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks. He did not strike out anyone and the Pirates did play very good defense behind him snagging some very hard hit balls. Regardless, he kept the best offense in baseball in check. He had only thrown 72 pitches when the Shadow decided to take him out. A little surprising considering the bullpen must have been strapped, because he used Singles and Homers, I mean Selby and Hatch, to try and finish the game. He might as well used Starsky and Hutch as good as they were. The Pirate offense could not do much, scoring 2 runs on 7 hits, striking out 11 times, while not drawing a walk the entire game. The bottom third of the order went 0 for 10. It was a good tight competitive game, but the Pirates lack of pitching depth just caught up with them.

The Key Moment Of The Game. The Braves scored 1 run in the bottom of the 6th after the Pirates had scored 2 in the top of the inning. With the score 2-1 Pirates going into the top of the 7th, Josh (I Will Be Here Next Year Despite What You Say) Palacios led off the inning with a booming triple. The bottom third of the order failed miserably and could not get him in. In the bottom of the 7th the Braves broke open the game against the B squad and the game was over. Naturally, a walk was involved.

Next Game: Tonight, the Nationals in Pittsburgh. The Pirates start a 7 game homestand against the Nationals and the Yankees. If the Pirates are going to reach the mid 70’s in wins it is critical that they have good homestand, with at least a 5 and 2 record. After that they go on a 9 game road trip where they will be playing all contenders, the Cubs, Reds, and Phillies. As usual, who is going to take the mound is a mystery. Only The Shadow knows.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Quick Humane Death

Final Score: Pirates 2 Braves 8

Why The Pirates Lost: They are playing the Atlanta Braves. In fairness to the Mitch Keller, even though his stats looked bad, in the bottom of 3rd, the Braves had 6 singles and 4 of them were under 80 MPH. The other 2 were 83 and 94 MPH. It is bad enough you are playing the team in the National League with the best record, but then they get a bunch of soft serve hits that result in 4 runs. In the bottom of the fourth they did hit some rockets including a 2-run homer to score 3 more runs. The only good thing, that despite a combined 10 runs, 18 strikeouts and 3 walks, the game only took 2 hours and 14 minutes to play. It was a humane slaughter by the Braves. The Pirate offense was about as ineffective as you could get. In the first and third innings, they had a runner on 2nd with no one out and failed to score. Jack Suwinski did hit a 2-run homer for the Pirates scoring, but they were only able to manage 5 other hits for the game. Overall, just an expected beating with 2 more to come.

Key Moment Of The Game: When Pirates plane touched down in Atlanta. The Pirates could not take advantage of the early scoring opportunities and the Braves fortunate 3rd inning set the tone for the game. I know this is only one game, but it shows how far the Pirates have to go before they can really contend for a championship. It was nice to see how the game should be played even though it was an opponent of the Pirates and not the Pirates.

Next Slaughter: Tonight, Braves in Atlanta. Johan Oviedo takes the mound tonight and if he thinks he was uncomfortable in his last outing, wait until he faces this lineup. He may not be able to move. The Pirates are facing Dylan Dodd, who has an ERA of over 7 through 5 games but has a record of 2-1. Maybe the Pirates can out hit the Braves tonight. I apologize for writing that.

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Pirates Morning Report: Nice Outside Strike, Pirates Get The Call

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 4

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates were able to get to Freddy Peralta in the bottom of the 6th inning, and the Brewers had another bullpen failure, enabling the Pirates to pull out a 5-4 win and take the series. After the sad start by Colin (Don’t Worry I Won’t Be Here Next Year) Selby, giving up 3 runs on one hit, a home run, walking 3, while throwing 35 pitches in just one inning of work, the rest of the bullpen did fine. Colin Holderman had his typical mystifying inning giving up the 4th run to make things quite interesting in the top of the 9th for David Bednar. Everybody got one hit except for Peguero but they were close enough together to bring 5 runs home which was just enough to pull out the victory. Taking 2 out of 3 from the Brewers is no small feat with their pitching staff. The Pirates at least have a little momentum to take to Atlanta. Let’s hope the Braves show some mercy. Would it be too obvious if the Braves picked a position player to start one of the games on the mound. Yes, I guess it would be.

Key Moments Of The Game: With the score 5-3 heading into the top of the 8th, Colin Holderman took the mound. After getting one quick out the fun began. After 3 straight singles none of which were under 95 MPH the Brewers had a run in, runners on 1st and 3rd with just one out. The Brewers decided to pinch hit with slow footed Rowdy Tellez even though he had the same batting average against right handers as the man he pinch-hit for Brice Turang. He promptly hit into an inning ending double play because he is heavy and slow. Thank you, Craig Councell. David Bednar pitched the 9th inning and gave up an opening single. Tyrone Taylor hit a line drive that Connor Joe almost misplayed but was able to reach up and make the grab. Bednar struck out Christian Yelich. This brought up catcher William Contreras. Bednar fell behind 3-0, but 4 pitches later the count was 3-2. The 8th pitch of the bat was clearly outside, but the ump who had dinner reservations at Ruth Chris called strike 3 and the Pirates had won the game. Hallelujah, Sweet Jesus!!!!!!!!!!

Next Game: Friday night, the Braves in Atlanta. After a 6 day rest Mitch Keller with take the hill, probably making this our best chance to win one game from the Braves. If the Braves want to clinch everything real early, they may be super serious about this series. If they are, the Pirates are going down 3 times.

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Pirates Morning Report: It Was Just One Of Those Innings

Final Score: Pirates 3 Brewers 7

Why The Pirates Lost: You knew that this was not going to be the Pirates night when Greg Brown talking about the red hot Ke’Bryan Hayes, said he hit the 2-run homer to tie the game the night before. Brown at least knew that Hayes hit a homer, but it was Jack Suwinski that hit the 2-run homer to tie the game. Hayes’s home run was a solo homer that gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead. I imagine that Brown needs GPS to find his way home. From there you knew the day was going downhill. Andre Jackson started for the Pirates and despite what the broadcast booth said, if this guy is in the starting rotation next year, the Pirates are in big trouble. I think he can be a tremendous asset out of the bullpen. Last night, Jackson went 4 and 1/3 innings giving up 6 runs on just 3 hits, but he walked 5. This after pitching a perfect 3 innings. The Pirates offense was completely stifled by Brandon Woodruff getting only 2 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings. Woodruff threw 97 pitches and finished strong by striking out the final 2 batters he faced. Thanks to Greg Brown it was the Brewers night.

Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the 4th Jackson walked the bases loaded with no one out. He escaped with only 1 run scoring, and you felt that this game had the feel of the previous game, when the Brewers failed to capitalize on the situation. However, in the top of the 5th, things went in the other direction, big time. Jackson opened the inning by issuing his 4th walk. Andruw Monasterio hit a triple in the left center field notch to make the score 2-0 Brewers. From this moment on, everything went the Brewers way. A little dribbler down the third base line, a bloop just between the 1st and 2nd basemen, and finally a deep fly ball to center field that Suwinski lost in the twilight sky for a double. There was a sacrifice fly and walk sandwiched between all of this, giving the Brewers a 5-0 lead. The scoring mercifully ended on an 81 MPH single to left field by Mark Canha that was booted by Josh Palacios to allow the final run to score. It was 7-0 and the game was over. Connor Joe hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th to make the final 7-3.

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. Again, the Pirates do not know who the starting pitcher is. It would be a nice win today considering that they are heading to Atlanta to get the crap beat out of them this weekend. Their only hope is that Atlanta may already be in some kind of rest mode to get ready for the playoffs. They do have a 6 game lead on the Dodgers for the best record in the National League. Maybe the The Shadow Shelton has some really close friends in Atlanta, and they will let Pirates win one game.

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Pirates Morning Report: Defining Inconsistency

Final Score: Pirates 4 Cardinals 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Johan Oviedo had an extremely poor performance. Oviedo said he felt “uncomfortable” on the mound. He would not get into specifics, but my suggestion would be to get an enema before the game or skip lunch. In 3 and 2/3 innings he threw 97 pitches, 49 of them for balls, walked 6, gave up 4 hits, struck out 2, and was charged with 5 runs. I think I was more uncomfortable watching such a debacle. The bullpen gave up just 1 run over the last 4 and 1/3 innings but they walked 3 making the grand total 9. The offense tried but couldn’t overcome the lead, scoring only 4 runs. Ke’Bryan Hayes showed how important it is to rest a player by going 2 or 13 for the series and neither hit left the infield. It’s called taking a red-hot player and turning him ice cold. Miguel Andujar had a nice game going 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI’s. The Pirates have him scheduled for a rest day sometime this week. He must have paid Greg Brown to sing his praises, too. I fully expect like a few of his broadcast buddies, that Greg Brown will become the Pirates manager. It was disappointing to see the brief 5-game winning streak come to an end, but it was a good road trip for the young Buccos.

Key Moment Of The Game: Despite all his problems, Oviedo had managed to wiggle off the hook most of the time, and when he left the game, the score was tied 3-3 with the bases loaded and 2 outs. The Cardinals had loaded the bases on 2 walks and an error. In came Ryan Borucki to pitch to the left-hand hitting Alec Burleson with his .166 batting average against left hand pitching. Borucki must have thought that this meant you could just throw the ball right down the middle with no movement because that’s what he did on the first pitch. Unlike a typical Pittsburgh Pirate, Burleson actually swung at the ball and laced it right back up the middle at 102 MPH, giving the Cardinals a 5-3 lead that they never relinquished.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates open a brief 3 game homestand against the Milwaukee Brewers. It would be nice to see them win 2 out of 3 from the Brewers to keep some momentum going. The season is winding down with 25 games left. The Pirates have 13 home games and 12 road games. Hopefully the Pirates can figure out who is going to pitch but I am not optimistic. They are probably too busy scheduling rest days.

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Pirates Morning Report: Exciting 5th Win A Row

Final Score: Pirates 7 Cardinals 6

Why The Pirates Won: This time it was the Pirates bats that kept battling back from 3-0, 4-3, and 6-5 deficits, to pull out their 5th win in a row. The bats came alive for 7 runs on 11 hits, 5 walks, and a hit batsman. Every time the pitching staff gave up the lead the Pirate offense was able to take it back. The Pirates went with the opener, and they pretty much got rocked in the early going, although Bailey (It Was My) Falter did not pitch too bad giving up a solo home run, for the only hit in 3 and 2/3 innings. The backend of the bullpen, the “killer B’s”, Borucki, Bolton and Bednar shut down the Cardinals the rest of the way but not without some super tense moments. This was one of the most exciting games of the year, made even better by the fact that the Pirates pulled it out in the top of the 9th inning.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The 9th inning was quite a finish. In the top of the ninth Josh (I AM Not Going To Take Back About What I Wrote About Him) Palacios had another big moment for the Pirates. After McCutchen got hit by a pitch Palacios was called on to pinch hit for Connor Joe. On a 3-1 pitch, he took a low inside the plate fastball and drilled it over the fence for a home run, giving the Pirates a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the 9th David Bednar made it interesting and almost gave his Dad a stroke. In four pitches, he gave up a single and hit a batter. The Cardinals did us a favor and sacrificed the runners over to 2nd and 3rd. It is a good thing that Endy Rodriguez was catching, or the Cardinals may have had the bases loaded, if lead ass Delay had been behind the plate. Bednar and Lars Nootbaar went to battle. On a 10 pitch at bat, where the 4th pitch was ball 3, Bednar threw a beautiful 97 MPH fastball that caught the inside part of the plate above the knees for a called third strike. That left Paul Goldschmidt to face with 2 outs. This was a 9 pitch battle with Goldschmidt grounding out to short to end the game. One final note, Endy Rodriguez made numerous blocks during these combined 19 pitch at bats. A great 5th win a row.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals in St. Louis. Can the Pirates make it 6 in a row? At least they will have a starting pitcher going today with Johan Oviedo taking the mound. Regardless of what happens today the Pirates have had a very nice road trip, indeed. We will probably see the B team out there today and Bednar will probably not be available. In case no one’s noticed, Ke’Bryan Hayes has been 1 for 9 and that was an infield hit, since his scheduled day off. Another bone head move by management.

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Pirates Morning Report: Takes Overtime To Get 4 In A Row

Final Score: Pirates 4 Cardinals 1 10 innings

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate pitching staff has come alive. It could just be the competition, but for a staff that gave up 10 runs 2 games in a row, these last 4 games have been impressive. The Pirates have given up 0, 1, 1, and 1 run per 9 innings during the 4 game winning streak. Last night it was Mitch Keller who pitched a solid 6 innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits. His only negative was control issues walking 3 but did strike out 8. The bullpen only gave up the phantom run in the 10th while limiting the Cardinals to 1 hit and a walk. The Pirate offense was just as weak only getting 1 run on 4 hits in the first 9 innings. In the 10th, the Pirates showed what winning streaks are made of by scoring all three runs without getting a hit out of the infield. Bryan Reynolds hit a sacrifice fly to knock in the 3rd run and it was the only ball that left the infield. It doesn’t hurt to have a little luck to get the 4th win a row.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the 3rd with the Pirates leading 1-0, the Cardinals opened the inning with 2 quick singles on 5 pitches. Lars Nootbaar hit a line drive that Ke’Bryan Hayes leaped up and grabbed. This would be the first of 3 line drives that Hayes would snare in the game. Paul Goldschmidt struck out. Nolan Gorman hit a little bloop that was banged out at 67 MPH to center field, that Liover Peguero made a spectacular over the shoulder catch that most likely saved 2 runs, since there were 2 outs. I doubt that Josh Van Meter would have made the play. Keller gave up the home run in the 6th that tied the game, but if Peguero does not make that play the Pirates lose.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. It looks like the Pirates are going the opener route again, as they seek their fifth win in a row. I don’t know who will follow up. maybe Ortiz, but I do know it won’t be Bido. It is nice to see the team get a little momentum even though it has been against the bottom fodder, but that bottom fodder beat the Red Sox last night 13-2. You still have to play the games. Let’s hope the offense perks up a little tonight. The Pirates go for one for thumb!