The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to win its afternoon contest Thursday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs. If the Pirates do win it will avoid losing its first four-game series of the season. This afternoon, Charlie Morton will face Kyle Hendricks. Morton is 3-5 with a 4.71 ERA in 13 career starts against the Cubs. Morton won his last start, snapping a three-game losing streak. In the start, Morton allowed two runs on three hits over six innings of work against the Milwaukee ... Read More
Lester uses complete game effort to shutout Pirates
J.A. Happ battled for 5.2 innings but did not receive any run support as the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the Chicago Cubs in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader by a 2-1 score. Happ's [5-2] biggest battle came in the fifth inning. David Ross led off with a double, one of his two hits in the game and Jon Lester hit a sacrifice fielder's choice. The throw to Ramirez at third was late as he did not get the tag down in time, something which was confirmed by video review. Dexter Fowler ... Read More
Pirates pregame 9/15: Doubleheader begins highly anticipated series
Sunny skies and at least 18 innings await the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs in today's day/night doubleheader. Gerrit Cole and J.A. Happ will throw for the Pirates against Jason Hammel and Jon Lester. Cole is 6-1 against the Cubs with a 2.93 ERA in seven career starts. He last pitched Sept. 6 against the St. Louis Cardinals allowing two hits in seven scoreless innings. "I'm getting to see him for the first time this year," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "This guy is a really good ... Read More
Pirates pregame 9/12: Marte scratched, Hurdle sets rotation for Cubs
The Pittsburgh Pirates ended a seven-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers. The last time the Pirates won before last night's game was June 10. “We got the monkey off our back, now but it’s two teams that know each other very well now," Jordy Mercer said. "It’s the beauty of this game, anybody can beat anyone on any given day regardless of their record.” Chris Stewart came away with three RBI, his highest total since Aug. 20, 2013 when he also had three ... Read More
Opinion: the Pirates can still win the NL Central
Are you really surprised? The Pirates are headed for another season on the back burner of the NL Central; another season headed for a wildcard berth, and another season in which the St. Louis Cardinals give Pirates fans extra gray hairs that they (and I) could seriously live without. Despite playing in the toughest division in baseball, the Pirates would have a multi-game lead over the current leader in four of the five other divisions. Let that just sink in for a moment. A team cursed by ... Read More
Kang’s grand slam leads Pirates over Reds
The Pittsburgh Pirates game into Wednesday night's game, the 138th of the regular season, without a grand slam. One swing of Jung Ho Kang's bat in the sixth inning changed that, and his first career grand slam led the Pirates to victory over the Cincinnati Reds. On the mound, J.A. Happ also continued his string of success, allowing two runs over six innings while striking out a season-high 10 batters. It was the first time he struck out 10 or more batters since Aug. 7, 2014. Despite all of ... Read More
AM Joe: Bucs get 82, still chasing Cardinals
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Wednesday, September 10, 2015. What's on tap for today: The Pirates (82-55) will try for a series win in Cincinnati tonight. The Bucs are now just 4.5 games back of the Cardinals in the NL Central. The Cardinals play the Cubs this afternoon. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh Pittsburgh headlines: The Bucs beat the Reds 7-3 as starter Francisco Liriano struck out 10 over six innings and went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double. While ... Read More
Burnett makes return to Pirates rotation Thursday
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
Happ dominant in Pirates victory
The last time the Pittsburgh Pirates traveled to face the St. Louis Cardinals, J.A. Happ's turn was skipped in the rotation. This was partially because of past performance against the Cardinals, but also recent struggles at the time. Friday night, Happ struck out eight batters in seven scoreless innings as the Pirates won by a 9-3 score Friday night. Happ [4-1] was 1-8 with a 6.79 ERA in 10 career starts against the Cardinals coming into the start. His appearance tonight marked the first ... Read More
Pirates earn series win, extend winning streak
In his return to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Aramis Ramirez has shown a willingness to do whatever is asked of him. He's in his final season as a Major League player and all he wants is to help his team win. Ramirez accomplished just that on Saturday night as his offense helped the Pirates win 4-3 over the Colorado Rockies. Ramirez's three-run home run came in the first inning on a 2-2 sinker from Chris Rusin [4-7]. It was Ramirez's 382nd career home run and 78th as a Pirate. Ramirez entered ... Read More