Following Monday afternoon's loss to the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle announced that A.J. Burnett will return to pitch for the team Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers. Hurdle laid out the rotation for assembled media and this was later confirmed by the Pirates. Francisco Liriano and J.A. Happ will throw as scheduled in the remaining two games against the Reds and Burnett will follow along with Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke. This news means a few ... Read More
Cole, Cervelli finally show chemistry
Gerrit Cole was not all smiles in the dugout. The Pittsburgh Pirate ace rarely shows emotion on the mound, and that didn’t change when he exited the field at Busch Stadium after the seventh inning Sunday night. But manager Clint Hurdle and Cole’s teammates couldn’t stop high-fiving the young pitcher. High-fives in the dugout usually signal that a pitcher is done for the game, and Cole earned every hand slap after he exited a game where he blanked the St. Louis Cardinals through seven ... Read More
Cole’s pitching helps Pirates cause in series win
It was 13 years ago when Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole sat in the stands of Angel Stadium rooting for John Lackey to win game seven of the 2002 World Series for the then Anaheim Angels. Fast forward to Sunday night and Cole was pitching against Lackey. The Pirates defeated the Cardinals 7-1 to earn a series sweep. In fact, Cole [16-8] hit a single off Lackey [11-9] in the top of the seventh inning which placed the Pirates in front by two runs. It was Cole's first RBI in 2015 and ... Read More
Cole fails to reach fifth inning in Pirates loss
Fans who turned on the television saw what has been a constant at Miller Park as the Pittsburgh Pirates fell by a 7-4 score Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. Gerrit Cole [15-8] allowed four first-inning runs and lasted four innings, his shortest outing since June 28, 2014 when he also pitched four innings. The victory is the 94th overall and fifth this season by the Brewers against the Pirates at Miller Park. In the bottom of the first inning, the first four batters reached ... Read More
AM Joe: Which Pitt is it?
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Tuesday, September 1, 2015. What's on tap for today: Duquesne will announce the school's new athletic director in a press conference at 10 a.m. The Pirates (79-50) are back in action after a much-needed rest day. They're in Milwaukee for the first game of a nine-game National League Central road trip that will also see them visit the Cardinals and the Reds. If the Pirates want to catch the Cardinals, they'll need to improve ... Read More
Pirates take three of four from Marlins with 2-1 win
The Pittsburgh Pirates took three of four games with its 2-1 victory against the Miami Marlins Thursday. This victory gives the Pirates 28 one-run victories on the season. Gerrit Cole [15-7] won his first game since July 26. The 7.1 innings he threw were a high in August starts. Cole's biggest obstacle came in the bottom of the third inning when Francisco Cervelli was ejected by home plate umpire Alan Porter. Cervelli disagreed with a pitch that was ruled a ball as it was ruled a strike to ... Read More
Kang, Marte power Pirates to win
No more than 30 minutes earlier Starling Marte played hero hitting a game-winning home run, however he quickly tried to deflect the credit. "You should be talking to Jung Ho [Kang]," Marte said. "He hit two home runs, he was the real hero today." Marte's 15th home run of the season, his second career walk-off allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates to defeat the San Francisco Giants by a 3-2 score. “I was looking for a fastball away because it was tied in the ninth inning and that’s what ... Read More
Pirates pregame 8/22: Kang continues to progress with his English
It was a night to forget for Jeff Locke as the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the San Francisco Giants by a 6-4 score last night. Locke surrendered a career-high 11 hits in five innings of work. He missed in location repeatedly early in the game and the Giants made him pay. The most notable hit was a 418-foot home run hit by his mound counterpart, Madison Bumgarner, his fifth of the season. This afternoon Gerrit Cole [14-7 2.61 ERA] will face Mike Leake [9-6 3.52 ERA]. Cole is 3-0 with a ... Read More
Should Pirates skip Cole’s next start?
It is four starts into Gerrit Cole's month of August, and he has an 0-3 record with a 4.69 ERA to show for it. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle told the media prior to Monday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, that he wanted a starting pitcher to go seven innings, which would put much less of a burden on a bullpen that was massively tested this past weekend against the New York Mets. Perhaps trying to meet that demand Hurdle stuck by Cole for 6.2 innings, this despite a 30-pitch ... Read More
Pirates can’t shake early inning troubles in loss
The Arizona Diamondbacks attacked Gerrit Cole's fastball early and often and won a 4-1 contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday night. Cole [14-7] tied a season-high allowing nine hits in the contest while also throwing 30-pitches in the first inning. The Diamondbacks struck first with a two-run first inning. A.J. Pollock hit a triple off the Clemente Wall in right field. Gregory Polanco did not read the bounce off the right field wall correctly allowing Pollock to advance to third ... Read More