Charlie Morton pitched seven or more innings for the third time in four major league starts this season as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 to avoid a sweep. “That’s who we are, we bounce back very well," Jordy Mercer said. "We’re a very resilient ball club and when things don’t go for us we can easily come back the next day and be ready. We showed a full team effort tonight.” Morton [4-0] would pitch a total of 7.1 shutout innings allowing three hits. In his 102 ... Read More
Pirates pregame 6/10: Hurdle relates to Hart’s inactivity
The Pittsburgh Pirates look to avoid being swept when it takes on the Milwaukee Brewers tonight. The Pirates have been swept on two occasions this season, both on the road. The first sweep was the opening series against the Cincinnati Reds and the second was May 1-3 against the Cardinals as part of a five game losing streak. A loss for the Pirates tonight would be the first three game losing streak since they lost four May 13-16. The Brewers are 4-1 in their past five games. Tonight’s ... Read More
Brewers clinch series win over Pirates with 4-1 victory
Jason Rogers came into the game with five hits against left-handed pitching. It was his bat, however, that contributed to a 4-1 Milwaukee Brewers victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. “Rogers had the two big hits for sure and it was a nice game by Jason," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He’s not in there every day and he’s facing one of the better starters in our division and has a nice night. That’s why he’s here.” Rogers first hit his second home run of the season to left field in ... Read More
Pirates pregame 6/9: McCutchen returns to the lineup
The Pirates hope to get back to its winning ways after losing a 2-0 contest Monday evening to the Milwaukee Brewers. In the loss, there were two rain delays totaling two hours and 13 minutes. A.J. Burnett took the loss and is now 6-2 on the season. Tonight’s starters: The Pirates send Francisco Liriano to the mound against Taylor Jungmann. Liriano has posted the second-lowest batting average against [.215] among all National League left-handed pitchers since 2013 behind Clayton ... Read More
Pirates take ‘best player available’ approach
You can call it the year of the shortstop as the Pirates drafted shortstops Kevin Newman and Kevin Kramer, while also drafting third basemen Ke'Bryan Hayes. "It's a good year for shortstops and it's been a good year for middle-of-the-diamond players," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. "Each Draft has strengths. Each Draft has challenges. This just happened to be a good year for middle-of-the-diamond players." Newman got the call two minutes before the selection was made and ... Read More
Pirates lose rainy contest to Brewers
You could hear the dozens of PNC Park fans left screaming "cheater" to Ryan Braun. That's what two rain delays totaling two hours and 13 minutes will do. A runner sliding on the bag, the ball hitting the backstop, the ball popping in Herbie Andrade's glove in the bullpen could be heard by everyone left at PNC Park. None of this did the Pittsburgh Pirates any well as it lost 2-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers. Almost every last one of the 18,016 in attendance left during one or both of the ... Read More
Cole wins fourth consecutive start; Pirates win another series
Gerrit Cole won his fourth start of the season throwing seven innings in a 3-0 Pirates victory against the Atlanta Braves. Cole [9-2] now is tied with Felix Hernandez for the most wins and ERA [1.73]. His 116 pitches represent a career high. He also is the first Pirates pitcher since Emil Yde in 1924-25 to win 30 games in his first 53 starts. Since September 7, 2014, Cole has 12 wins, which represents the most in the major leagues during that time period. Pirates starters have now recorded ... Read More
Pirates comeback falls short in loss to Braves
Vance Worley allowed a run for the first time as a reliever and the Pittsburgh Pirates lost on walk-off home run to the Atlanta Braves. The 5-4 victory ends a four-game winning streak. Worley [2-4] allowed a lead-off homer to Christian Bethancourt. The 84 mile-per-hour slider went over the right field wall. "I thought it was a good pitch to him," Worley said. "Somehow he got enough barrel on it." The Braves scored the first two runs. A Chris Johnson solo home run off Jeff Locke in the ... Read More
Pirates win streak hits four with victory over Braves
The Pittsburgh Pirates offense had 12 hits in a series opening 10-8 victory against the Atlanta Braves. Charlie Morton [3-0] did just enough to earn a victory against his former team, throwing five innings allowing four runs [three earned]. Morton also walked three batters and struck out one on 82 pitches, 50 of which were for strikes. Morton once again displayed his ground ball ability as the Braves had nine ground ball outs and two fly balls. The Braves scored two runs in the first ... Read More
Pirates secure series sweep
It took a while for Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer to hit his first home run of the season, however his second came in Wednesday's 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants and represented the winning run. This is the first Pirates sweep in San Francisco since May 14-16 2004 and the third sweep in the past four series. The Pirates have won 11 of their past 13 games and at 29-24 are a season best five games above .500. As was the case in the first two games, it was the Giants who ... Read More