The Pittsburgh Pirates have assembled its starting pitching rotation well ahead of Sunday's 3 p.m. deadline to finalize a 25-man roster. Last season, the Pirates ranked eighth in all of Major League Baseball and fifth in the National League with a 3.47 ERA and ranked fourth with a 3.05 ERA in the second half of the season. Pirates starters combined for a 3.60 ERA, seven shutouts, two complete games, a .249 batting average against and 798 strikeouts in 971 innings of work. Though the ... Read More
Pirates win as Polanco homers for second straight game
Charlie Morton's up and down Spring Training continued with an 8-3 victory over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays Saturday at McKechnie Field. Morton [1-1] saw his ERA fall from 7.71 to 6.46 this spring after pitching six innings and allowing three runs. Morton also surrendered six hits and walked two batters. Morton's three runs came on a first inning Daric Barton home run, a second inning Munenori Kawasaki double and a fourth inning Danny Valencia homer. “I thought he showed progress as ... Read More
Morton has rough outing in Pirates loss
Charlie Morton had a start to forget in Sunday's 14-2 Spring Training loss to the Houston Astros. Morton allowed seven runs on nine hits in his 4.1 innings pitched and as a result lost his first game of the spring. The Pirates are now 7-8-3 in Spring Training. The highlight of the game for the Pirates was Jordy Mercer's second home run of the spring. The blast came in the sixth inning and was hit off Dan Straily. Mercer is 7 for his last 11 at the plate and is hitting .294 this ... Read More
Liriano to start opening day; Pirates lose to Astros
Jeff Locke's quest for a spot in the Pirates rotation took a hit during Tuesday's 13-7 loss to the Houston Astros. On a day when Francisco Liriano was revealed to be the Opening Day pitcher in Cincinnati, Locke pitched three-plus innings, allowing seven hits, six runs and a walk. “I just left some pitches over the plate,” Locke said. “They just fell in.” Locke is battling with Vance Worley for the final position in the Pirates rotation and currently, the Spring Training statistics favor ... Read More
Jordy Mercer goes deep as Pirates lose to Phillies
The Pittsburgh Pirates lost its first game in a week losing 3-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies in a Wednesday Spring Training game. The Pirates were 3-0-2 during this stretch. Charlie Morton started for the Pirates and had command troubles in the first inning. Morton walked lead-off hitter Ben Revere on five pitches with all four balls in the sequence missing the strike zone by a comfortable margin. Morton then had his pick off throw dropped by Deibinson Romero allowing Revere to advance to ... Read More
Pirates fall to Yankees; Harrison injury ‘minor setback’
The Pittsburgh Pirates fell to 1-2 in Spring Training after a 2-1 loss Thursday to the New York Yankees (1-1-1) in front of a sellout crowd of 7,879. Fred Lewis (1-0) picked up the win for the Yankees and Deolis Guerra (0-1) suffered the loss for the Pirates. Taylor Garrison threw the ninth inning to earn the save. The Pirates lone run came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Jaff Decker singled in Willy Garcia who had a 2-for-2 day at the plate. Decker has a .600 batting average thus ... Read More
Pirates claim Chaz Roe from Yankees, place Morton on 60-Day DL
The Pirates have claimed right-handed pitcher Chaz Roe off waivers from the New York Yankees. Roe had been designated for assignment by the Yankees on Sunday. The 27-year-old Roe began the season with the Marlins before being acquired by the Yankees on August 31. He made three appearances with New York this season, and also posted 14 saves in 47 games (64.0ip) at Triple-A New Orleans (3.66 ERA / 1.156 WHIP). The Steubenville, OH, native made 21 appearances with Arizona in 2013. Roe will ... Read More
Vance Worley to start on Sunday vs. Brewers
Pirates starter Charlie Morton felt "increased discomfort" due to a sports hernia after his last start and during a bullpen session on Thursday. Vance Worley will start in his place. "My discomfort got noticeably worse during the last batter that I faced in my start," said Morton. "There was three pitches remaining and I felt something that was really abnormal. I threw a pen [Thursday] and it wasn't good. I was hoping I would feel better, but it wasn't, and now we're here." Vance Worley — ... Read More
Pirate pitching solid in 4-0 win over Red Sox
Six Pirates pitchers combined for a seven-hit shutout and Russell Martin provided the big blow as the Bucs defeated the Red Sox 4-0 on Tuesday night. Charlie Morton made his first start in a month due to a "sports hernia" and looked like his 2013 self as he went five shutout innings against the World Champs. Morton allowed minimal damage through the first three innings before getting into some trouble in the fourth. Yoenis Cespedes double to start the inning and Mike Napoli followed by ... Read More
Pirates Gameday 9/16: Playoff update, Hurdle discusses Morton’s start
Good afternoon from PNC Park where the Pirates (79-70) have a golden chance to improve their playoff chances against the Red Sox (66-84) in the final Interleague series of the season. Charlie Morton (5-12, 3.84 ERA) will make his first start since the middle of August and will oppose Anthony Ranaudo (3-2, 5.40 ERA). Standings Update -- The Brewers head to St. Louis to start a three-game series against the Cardinals. The Pirates trail the Cardinals by 3 1/2 games in the division while leading ... Read More