The Pittsburgh Pirates had a chance to play spoiler for the St. Louis Cardinals' playoff hopes — they'd be eliminated with a loss and a San Francisco Giants win — but, despite a 3-0 lead before a Cardinal even stepped to the plate, Pittsburgh lost Saturday's game 4-3 at Busch Stadium. This defeat puts the Pirates at 78-82 on the season. Michael Wacha started for the Cardinals and pitched all of one inning. He threw 29 pitches and allowed the three runs on two hits. Those runs came when ... Read More
Cubs prove too much for Pirates
In his previous start against the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Chad Kuhl didn't make it past the fifth inning, and, Monday night, Kuhl struggled again against the Cubs. Kuhl (5-4) made a mess of the fourth inning and was unable to see it through, and Chicago won its 100th game of the season with a 12-2 victory. This season, the Cubs are now 13-3 against the Pirates, while the Pirates fall to 37-41 at PNC Park and 32-38 against the National League ... Read More
Kuhl, McCutchen, Rodriguez shine in Pirates win
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
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
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’ 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
Column: Series sweep could be beginning of the end
Wednesday night's 6-5 Chicago Cubs victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates not only resulted in a sweep but confirmed what has been believed for a while. The Pittsburgh Pirates are not a playoff team. They have yet to prove otherwise. This second half has had more ups and downs than a roller coaster for the team, which statistically had the easiest second-half schedule this season. Recently the Pirates had a 5-1 road trip that transitioned to a return to PNC Park and a 1-5 homestand. It ... Read More
Cubs, Hendricks blank Pirates, 3-0
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks has the lowest Earned Run Average among qualified pitchers and Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates found out why. All Hendricks (13-7) did was allow three hits in seven innings lowering his ERA to 2.09 as the Cubs bested the Pirates, 3-0. This victory put the Cubs at 21-6 in August, and the 21 wins is the most in a month since May 1977. Meanwhile, the Pirates now fall to 3-11 against the Cubs this season. All the runs needed for Kendrick ... Read More
Pirates end Miller Park skid in extra innings
Andrew McCutchen provided all of the offense the Pittsburgh Pirates needed in a 10-inning 3-2 road victory against the Milwaukee Brewers Friday night. This win snapped a nine-game losing streak dating back to July 17, 2015 for the Pirates at Miller Park. Miller Park has not been friendly to the Pirates, who are 41-88 at a place which can be called unfriendly confines. McCutchen started with a first-inning solo home run on a two-out, 3-2 slider over the left field wall. This home run, ... Read More
Phelps golden against Pirates
Miami Marlins starting pitcher David Phelps was too much for the Pittsburgh Pirates' offense to handle, and the road team came away with a 3-1 victory Saturday night at PNC Park. Phelps, who tied a career-high with nine strikeouts, allowed two hits in six scoreless innings, good for a game score of 77. Phelps' strong pitching meant, for the first time, that the Pirates (62-58) lost a game started by Chad Kuhl. He had 10 ground ball outs while allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits ... Read More