Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: Take That Dodger Blue

Final Score: Pirates 8 Dodgers 1

Why The Pirates Won: Roansy Contreras really shut the Dodgers down over the first 5 innings not allowing a hit. He skirted some trouble in the 6th to pitch a solid game, giving up no runs on just 2 hits, 2 walks, while striking out 5. The Pirate bats after a slow start got hot in the 5th inning and continued to pour it on. The bottom third of the order, Castro, Bae, and Delay went 8 for 11 with 6 RBI’s. Jason Delay went 3 for 3 knocking in 3 of those runs. The Pirates made no errors and had a nice clean bounce back win over the mighty Dodgers to improve to 17-8.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates had just taken the lead 2-0 in the bottom of the 5th inning, when in the top of the 6th the Dodgers got 2 singles around one out. It looked like that Contreras may be giving the lead right back. He got Jason (I Am Batting Third In The Dodger Lineup Despite The Fact That I Can’t Hit) Heyward to hit a shallow fly ball to right for the second out. Contreras ended the threat and preserved the lead by getting James Outman to fly out to centerfield. The Pirates added a run in the 6th inning and then added a big 5 spot in the bottom of the 7th to put the game away.

Next Game: This afternoon, Dodgers in Pittsburgh. The rubber match will feature Mitch Keller squaring off against Julio Urias, who, just like the Dodgers has had his ups and downs this year. Even if the Pirates lose today the homestand will be a successful 5-2. The Pirates have blasted the Dodger pitching staff for 15 runs in 2 games. A 5-2 homestand is really nice but 6-1 would be oh so sweet.

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Pirates Morning Report: Reds, May You Rest In Peace

Final Score: Pirates 2 Reds 0

Why The Pirates Won: Vince (Will I Be Able To Keep This Up) Velasquez pitched the strongest game of the year, going 7 innings, giving up no runs, just 2 hits, walking 2 in a row and striking out 10. I will gladly be wrong about Velasquez, if he can keep this up for the remainder of the season. The A team of Holderman and Bednar finished up the shutout. Holderman has been extremely effective as the set up man, but he always makes it interesting. The Pirates were only able to muster 2 runs on 6 hits, and 1 walk. Suwinski got a big 2 out double in the bottom of the 8th to drive in a nice insurance run. The bottom of the 8th also featured a stolen base by Carlos Santana that helped make scoring the 2nd run very easy. I wrote the Pirates needed to bury the Reds and they did with great pitching that literally got better as the series went on. The Reds scored 3, 2, 1, and finally 0 runs to end the series. The 4 game sweep enabled the Pirates to improve to 16-7, and don’t look now, but are in first place.

The Key Moment Of The Game: After getting the first 7 batters out, all of a sudden it seemed like Velasquez could not find the plate and he walked 2 batters in a row. There was a conference on the mound, and it seemed to get Velasquez back on track and he never looked back. This was the first time that Velasquez has had back to back quality starts since 2018. It was a beautiful thing.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Dodgers in Pittsburgh. Johan Oviedo will open against the Dodgers going against Noah Syndergaard. With the sweep of the Reds, the Pirates need to win only 1 of the next 3 to make this a successful home stand. Of course, I will take 2 out of 3 or another Pirate sweep. This should be one great series.

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Pirates Morning Report: The B Squad Comes Through

Final Score: Pirates 2 Reds 1

Why The Pirates Won: Rich Hill pitched 5 dancing through the raindrop’s innings giving up on 1 run on 6 hits and 3 walks. The Reds had 2 runners on base in 4 of the 5 innings. The 4th inning saw only 3 batters but that was because one was picked off 1st base after getting a single. Then the B squad of the bullpen took over the game. Yohan Ramirez pitched the 6th and 7th, giving up 2 hits and a walk, but struck out 4, many of them on balls that almost hit the Red’s right handed batters. Then my old buddy DUJ came in to pitch the 8th and 9th, retiring all 6 batters he faced on just 22 pitches. This was his 10th appearance of the year, and he has had only 2 bad outings. It will be interesting to see who will go when De Jong comes back. The Pirate bats were more or less quiet but got 1 run on an opening triple by Hayes, followed by a sacrifice fly by Reynolds, who had a very nice offensive game getting 2 doubles. In the bottom of the 4th, Carlos Santana and Jack Suwinski had back to back doubles to get the game deciding run.

Key Moments Of The Game: Top of the 1st, 1st and 3rd, 2 outs, no runs scored. Top of the 2nd, 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, no runs scored. Top of the 3rd, 1st and 2nd no outs, no runs scored. Last but not least, top of the 5th, single, strikeout, single and misplayed ball by Bae to score a run and put a runner on 2nd with 1 out, no more runs scored. The Reds were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base for the game. Simply a game of lost opportunities for the Reds to allow the Pirates to move to 15-7.

Next Game: This afternoon, Reds in Pittsburgh. Another buddy of mine Vince (I Am Going To Prove You Wrong) Velasquez will start, to try and get the Pirates a sweep of the Reds. There is no question the Pirates are on a roll.

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Pirates Morning Report: How Do They Do It?

Final Score: Pirates 4 Reds 2

Why The Pirates Won: Another Pirate win when looking at the box score, you have to wonder how did they win that one? The top 4 hitters in the lineup went 1 for 14 with 2 walks. There were a lot of 0fers, as only 4 Pirates got hits. Connor Joe had 3 hits, as he continues to swing a hot bat. The Pirates made 2 throwing errors, one in the 7th and another in the 8th, but the Reds could not take advantage. Mitch Keller got off to a hot start by retiring the first 9 batters he faced. The next 3 innings he gave up 2 runs, 5 hits, walked 1 and hit a batter. The bullpen was able to survive the 2 throwing errors and Bednar pitched a clean 9th to get the save as the Pittsburgh (We Don’t Have To Play Our Best To Win) Pirates went to 14-7.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates only had 6 hits but 2 of them drove in 3 runs. Mark (Pop Gun Arm) Mathias got a big 1 out single in the second to drive in 2 runs. The Pirate base runners were able to get into scoring position thanks to a balk. The Reds really helped the Pirates get the run that took the lead 3-2. Connor Joe singled with one out in the bottom of the 6th, moved to second on a wild pitch, and went to third on a Suwinski ground out to 2nd. Joe scored when the Reds shortstop could not cleanly field a Mathias grounder. As mentioned previously the top of the order only got 1 hit, but that was a big one by Carlos Santana, a 2 out double that drove Andrew McCutchen home from 1st, after he walked.

Next Game: Tonight, Reds in Pittsburgh. Rich Hill will start for the Pirates tonight and has done well since his first 2 disastrous starts. The Pirates are now 14-7 and I feel the most impressive thing about this team has been their unimpressive wins. At least for now, they seem to be able to overcome their mistakes. The competition has not been that great but anybody can beat you, just ask the Phillies and the Rangers.

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Pirates Morning Report: Winning With 1 Hit Over The Last 8 Innings

Final Score: Pirates 4 Reds 3

Why The Pirates Won: Jet Lag did not set in until about 7:15 PM last night. The Pirates took a big first inning where Connor Jo hit a 3 run homer and Jack Suwinski hit a solo shot to take a 4-0 lead in the 1st inning, and they held on for a 4-3 victory over the Reds to go 13-7 for the season. The rest of the way they managed only 1 hit with a couple of walks, striking out 10 times. Roansy Contreras seemed back to his old form pitching 6 and 2/3rds innings, giving up 1 run, 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 8. It was his best performance of the year. The bullpen survived the 8th inning and Bednar pitched a clean 9th to pick up the save. It is easy to be critical of this win, but it is a lot better than being shut out by the Rockies, like the Phillies, at home, were last night. Yes, that’s correct, the Rockies.

The Key Moment Of The Game: The top of the 8th the Pirates still held a nice 4-1 lead and Colin Holderman came into pitch. Things began to unravel quickly. Jose Barrero got a swinging bunt single and Holderman threw the ball away allowing him to get to 2nd base. Then a wild pitch moved him to third. Jonathan India singled to right to drive in Barrero to make it 4-2. T. J. Friedl took a 3-2 pitch into right field for another single putting runners at 1st and 2nd. The Reds did a double steal, that the runners got such a big jump, a throw could not be made. Spencer Speer hit a sacrifice fly to score the 3rd run and move the runner to 3rd with only one out. Jake Fraley hit a hard low liner, but right at Ke’Bryan Hayes, who made a nice scoop of the ball, held the runner at 3rd, and threw out Fraley for the big 2nd out. Holderman struck out Tyler Stephenson on 3 pitches to end the inning. Whew!!!

Next Game: Tonight, Red in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller will start for the Pirates and Graham Ashcraft for the Reds. Ashcraft has gotten off to a great start this season, pitching 6 innings every start and never allowing more than 2 runs. Will the Pirates light up another hot pitcher like they did in Colorado. Let’s hope they get a good night’s sleep. It would have been a heartbreaking loss for the Pirates if the Reds would have come back and won the game. In that first inning, I thought Greg Brown may pass out, he got so excited. I would not be surprised to see him hooked up to some monitors tonight. He said how the Pirates are surprising everybody with their good start. Well, not everybody, oh thy great Pirate shill. The season has a long way to go and there is going to be ups and downs for this team. As the guy who jumped off the Empire State Building said as he went by each floor, so far so good.

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Pirates Morning Report: Another Blow Out Win

Final Score: Pirates 14 Rockies 3

Why The Pirates Won: This one is easy. Fourteen runs, 18 hits, 5 walks. All the starters got into the act with exception of Bryan Reynolds, who got tossed out of the game for arguing a called strike. Seven of the other 8 starters got at least 2 hits and Jack Suwinski walked twice and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. It has been an amazing hitting series for the Pirates. The Pirates are 12-7 as they head home for a 7 game homestand. Johan Oviedo pitched a solid 6 innings and sometimes that is a hard thing to do when you have a big lead, but he did it with ease. He did walk 3 batters, which is a more than you would want but he gave up only 1 run and threw only 84 pitches.

Key Moment Of The Game: The fact that the Pirates scored 5 in the 1st and 4 in the 2nd and never let the Rockies even remotely get into the game says it all. They stepped on the the Rockies throat and never let up. I believe this shows a lot about this team. Now for the homestand.

Next Game: Tonight, the Reds in Pittsburgh. Roansy Contreras will start for the Pirates and now that they are at home, they need to keep up the momentum. They will play 4 against the Reds and 3 against the Dodgers. They need to bury the Reds and take two from the Dodgers. They should go 5-2 over these next 7 games if they want to consider themselves a contending team. At the very least they need to go 4-3. Again, it is way too early in the season to look at any set of games as the key to the season, but they need to keep the vibe going. Speaking of vibes, I was right about the “minor” injury to Ji Man Choi when I said he wouldn’t return until July 4th. Now, that seems optimistic. Fortunately, they have plenty of talent to replace him and seem to be doing ok without Cruz. Let’s go Bucs.

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Pirates Morning Report: All Is Forgiven When You Win

Final Score: Pirates 5 Rockies 3

Why The Pirates Won: Despite some base running gaffes that cost the Pirates a couple of runs, they had a big 4th inning where they scored 4 runs, and held on to win, upping their record to 11-7. Jack Suwinski had the big night hitting 2 home runs and driving in 3 runs. A bold baserunning move by Tucupita Marcano accounted for the 5th run when he came home on a wild pitch that only got about 20 feet past the catcher. This turned out to be nice insurance in the tense late innings. Vince Velasquez, after a shaky 1st inning, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits, settled down just enough to dance through the raindrops for the next 5 innings without giving up a run. He only gave up one more hit but walked 3 to keep things interesting. He only retired the side in order once, although an error in the 6th by Ji Hwan (Boy Did I Have A Bad Game) Bae, gave the Rockies an extra out. All in all, the Rockies left 10 men on base. Grudgingly, I have to give Velasquez credit for a gritty performance over 6 innings. The bullpen kept the Rockies in check the rest of way but not without a little bit of luck. The Pirates missed many opportunities to extend their lead, but all is forgiven when you win.

The Key Moment of the Game: In the bottom of the 8th with the Pirates leading by 2 runs, the Rockies opened the inning with a double and a single to put runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs, against Robert Stephenson, who had just come into the game to start the inning. He got the next batter to strikeout. Alan Trejo hit a rocket on the 2nd pitch, but right at Ke’Bryan Hayes for the second out. Pinch hitter Mike Moustakas on a 3-2 pitch lined a deep ball to left field that Bryan Reynolds made a nice over the shoulder catch to end the inning. Bednar got the save but gave up a 2 out double before striking out C. J. Cron to end the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rockies in Colorado. The Pirates will be going for the sweep and a 5-2 road trip. Johan Oviedo will be starting for the Pirates, who has been pretty spectacular after giving up 5 runs in the 1st inning against the Red Sox. He has given up only 1 run in the last 17 innings. This is already a successful road trip and a sweep would just put whip cream and a cherry right on top. Go Bucs!

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Pirates Morning Report: Looking For The Third Out

Final Score: Pirates 4 Cardinals 5 10 innings

Why The Pirate Loss: Mitch Keller pitched a very odd game. In 6 innings he got the first 2 batters out 4 times. Only twice did he get the next batter out. With the exception of their 4th run, the Cardinals scored all their runs with 2 outs. In the first, after 2 were out, Keller gave up a walk, and 2 singles to allow the Cardinals to tie the game. Then in the bottom of the sixth, there was a Wilson Contreras double sandwiched between two outs, when Lars Nootbaar took a first pitch high inside cutter and drilled into the seats to tie the game at 3. Overall, just an ok performance by Keller as he gave up the 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, while only striking out 3. The bullpen hung tough, with Colin Holderman getting out of a 2nd and 3rd nobody out jam in the bottom of the 8th, which would have been the key moment of the game if the Pirates had won. Will Crowe came close to getting out of the bottom of the 10th, but just could not get the job done, giving up the winning run with, what else, 2 outs. The same could be said for the Pirate batters. They had 8 hits and 4 walks but could only muster 3 runs in the first nine innings, and one of those was a gift by Cardinals. They were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the top of the 6th inning the Pirates were given a 4th out but could not take full advantage of it. They loaded the bases in the top of the 7th, but could not score a run. In a nutshell, the Cardinals were able to get 2 out hits, as they batted 5-13 with runners in scoring position. As a result, the Cardinals were able to gain a series split, and the Pirates record fell to 9-7.

Next Game: Tonight, Rockies in Colorado. At first glance it would appear that the Pirates are catching the Rockies at the right time, as they are 5-11 and on a 5 game losing streak. However, they are always tough at home and tonight they are throwing lefty Kyle Freeman, who has an ERA of under 1, with 2 or his 3 starts being in Colorado which is a hitter’s paradise. We are throwing up, I mean starting Rich Hill who at 43 may be more concerned with his oxygen levels at the high altitude, rather than throwing strikes. I will be happy if we can come out of Colorado with 1 win. If we do better great, I just hope we avoid the sweep.

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Pirates Morning Report: Working Overtime For The Win

Final Score: Pirates 6 Cardinals 3 in 10 innings.

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate bats came alive with 10 hits, including 2 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs. They hit a dry spell in the middle of the game where they did not get a hit for 3+ innings. They perked up at the end picking up a run in the 8th with 2 out and scoring 3 in the top of the 10th when Andrew McCutchen led off the 10th with a home run to score 2 runs. They added another run on a Conner Joe triple and a Rodolfo Castro single. Castro had a big game going 3 for 5 with 2 RBI’s. Roansy Contreras pitched a nice 6 innings after getting off to a bad luck shaky start giving up 2 runs in the first inning. He then, shut the Cardinals down the rest of the way, giving up only 3 hits in the next 5 innings. For the game he had 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. It was a good enough bounce back start for the young right hander.

The Key Moment Of The Game: The bullpen took over the game in the bottom of the 7th and almost blew it. Rob Zastryzny started out the inning by giving up a walk and a single, getting one out on sacrifice bunt. Zastryzny walked another batter to load the bases and was pulled, to be replace by Robert Stephenson. He struck out the first batter he faced, but then walked in the go ahead run. The inning ended on a nice play by Ke’Bryan Hayes to get a force at 2nd. Even though the Cardinals managed to take the lead, it could have been a lot worse. The rest of the game the bullpen was solid, and the Pirates improved to 9-6.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals, in St Louis. Mitch Keller gets the start today as the Pirates try to take 3 out of 4 from the Cardinals. Tucupita Marcano joined the team yesterday as Ji Man Choi’s not too serious injury put him on the IL. I’m telling you he won’t be back until July 4th. Marcano was red hot down in AAA but it will be interesting to see if he can continue this at the Major League level. So far, he has not been able to do so. He is a great fielder, if he can only learn to hit.

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Pirates Morning Report: Untimely Loss

Final Score: Pirates 0 Cardinals 3

Why The Pirates Loss: The Pirates defined the meaning of lack of timely hitting. Everyone got a hit but Conner Joe, but nobody got more than one. There were 7 singles and a double by Austin (I did get a hit in April), Hedges. All of this wasted a very good performance by Johan Oviedo who pitched 7 innings, allowing 1 run, 6 hits, 1 walk, while striking out 10, on only 93 pitches. Just think, if Brubaker doesn’t get injured, he is pitching in Indiana. DUJ came in the 8th inning to seal the deal, but to be fair, the Cardinals just hit the ball where the Pirates weren’t. DUJ has never had an ERA under 4 in his career and it’s nice to see he is right back on track. I still don’t see what anybody sees in this guy. The injuries just keep piling up. Chase De Jong has a back issue and Ji Man Choi has left posterior ankle discomfort. Choi does not believe that it will be serious. He probably won’t play until July 4.

Key Moment Of The Game: There was not one key moment of the game, but the overall lack of timely hitting by the Pirates. They had 7 of their 8 hits in the first 5 innings and had nothing to show for it. Even when they got a hit, it did not turn out well. In the top of the 4th, Mark (I don’t understand why I am in the Major Leagues), Mathias hit a sharp line drive single to right, but Canaan Smith-Njigba, who was on 2nd base, was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. In the top of the 5th, with 2 out, and Austin Hedges on 3rd base, Andrew McCutchen hit a hard line drive to left field that was corralled by Tyler O’ Neill. The Pirates have not had much luck lately as they fell to 8-6 on the season.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals in St. Louis. Roansy Contreras will start today and will be looking for a bounce back start. The Pirates will be looking for that 2nd win on the road trip. It is time to be timely again. It’s too early to tell how Derek Shelton will do this year, but it sure would have been nice to see Carlos Santana or Ke’Bryan Hayes bat when the Cardinals brought in the left hander.