For a good while, the narrative when the Pittsburgh Pirates visited Miller Park was a losing one — the Pirates had struggled in Milwaukee. After Wednesday night's 4-1 Pirates victory against the Milwaukee Brewers, things have changed. Now, the Pirates have won six consecutive meetings between these two teams at Miller Park. The last time the Pirates won six in a row at Miller Park occurred in 2002. Pittsburgh starting pitcher Chad Kuhl (5-3) pitched six innings of one-run baseball, ... Read More
Pirates defeat Brewers, 6-3, Tuesday night
The Pittsburgh Pirates opened up their series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night with a 6-3 win. The Pirates (75-75) scored quickly in the first inning off the Brewers’ starting pitcher, Matt Garza (5-8, 4.52 ERA). Andrew McCutchen hit a double toward the deep left side of the field, scoring both Adam Frazier and Josh Bell. On the hill for Pittsburgh was 24-year-old Steven Brault (0-3, 4.26 ERA), who was starting his seventh game in a major league uniform. Brault looked solid ... Read More
Takeaways from Thursday’s 15-2 Pirates victory
The Pittsburgh Pirates had their way with the Philadelphia Phillies in a 15-2 routing Thursday night that secured a series split. Those 15 runs are a season-high and place the Pirates at 71-74 on the season with 17 regular-season games remaining. Here are my three takeaways from the game: 1. Offense finally shows up The Pirates offense has disappointed for most, if not all, of the second half of the 2016 season, but Thursday night felt as though a “help wanted” ad was finally ... Read More
Brault’s brief outing sinks Pirates
Pitcher Steven Brault made his shortest career Major League start, and the Pittsburgh Pirates dropped Wednesday night's 6-2 game to the Philadelphia Phillies. Brault (0-3) was making his sixth start of the season and of his career. He pitched 3.2 innings and allowed five runs, three of which were earned on a career-high nine hits allowed. June hasn't won a desicion since June 30 — and that came against the Toledo Mud Hens while Brault was a member of the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate, ... Read More
Huntington: ‘We’ve got the streakiest team in baseball’
Once again Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington met with reporters prior to Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Reds to discuss his team's struggles and answer questions regarding the remainder of the season. Below is an edited transcript. On Josh Harrison: “This is not going to be day-to-day. We’ll have to see how he responds in 24-48 hours and determine what other diagnostics need to be explored if he is not feeling better.” Neftali Feliz/A.J. Schugel progress: “They’re ... Read More
Pirates continue to sink after loss to Reds
Tony Watson has had a rather consistent career as a relief pitcher, that is unless the Cincinnati Reds are the opponent. This was the case again Friday as the Pittsburgh Pirates were bested by these same Reds, 4-3. Jose Peraza was responsible for bringing home what proved to be the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly that brought Eugenio Suarez back to the Reds dugout with several high fives immediately following. This was set up by Suarez's lead-off single, a Ramon Cabrera sacrifice ... Read More
Pirates’ three-run first inning propels team over Reds
After breaking an eight-game losing streak, the Pittsburgh Pirates extended their win streak to two with a 4-1 victory Thursday night against the Cincinnati Reds with a huge performance from Pittsburgh starter Ivan Nova. This victory brings the Pirates back to .500 with an even 69-69 record. For the second time as a Pirate, Nova (12-6) pitched a complete game, this time on 94 pitches — he could have pitched for “the Maddux,” a complete game with no runs allowed and under 100 pitches, but Nova ... Read More
Pirates relief spotty in 7-4 loss to Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia entered Saturday night's game a .184 hitter but left PNC Park having recorded three hits that helped give the Brewers a 7-4 series clinching victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Arcia ended up a home run shy of the cycle. On the Pirates end, they got Brewers starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson to walk a season-high six batters and allow four hits while elevating his pitch count to 99 pitches over 5.1. Despite this, the Pirates scored one run off ... Read More
Pirates base running gaffes costly in loss to Brewers
Less than a week after earning a four-game road sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the same Brewers 1-0 Friday night at PNC Park. This loss comes after a 1-5 mark during the team's last homestand, and now the Pirates fall to 67-65 on the season which is 2.5 games behind St. Louis for the second and final National League wild card spot. The Pirates did out-hit the Brewers in this game by a 7-3 margin, but it was what was done on the base paths that did the ... Read More
Pirates tie season best comeback in win
A simple look at the Miller Park scoreboard Saturday night after three innings couldn't have been encouraging for Pittsburgh Pirates fans. The Pirates trailed the Milwaukee Brewers by three runs. But the Pirates were able to come back, putting up crooked numbers in both the fourth and sixth innings to come away with a series-clinching 9-6 victory. Pittsburgh starting pitcher Jameson Taillon made his shortest career major league outing, three innings, after allowing five runs on seven ... Read More