Andrew McCutchen had been waiting for a while to get a significant hit and it came in the sixth inning on Wednesday night when he recorded his first triple of the season. Two innings later he had a single, good for the 1,000th hit of his career. The Pittsburgh Pirates secured a winning record in April with their 8-1 victory against the Chicago Cubs. The win puts the Pirates at 12-10 for April, an improvement over 2014's 9-16 mark. Despite the Pirates victory, it was the Cubs who scored ... Read More
Determined Watson saves Pirates win
Tony Watson was asked to make his longest outing of the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates were trying to hold on to a 1-run lead against the Chicago Cubs. Watson ended up getting the job done earning his first save of the season and the Pirates won by a 4-3 score. “It turned into a plan B where he had to go get six outs and he went out and got them," manager Clint Hurdle said. "He’s shown grit, he’s shown ability, he’s shown skill. It was a very gritty performance to get six outs and keep ... Read More
Pirates pregame 4/22: Kang, Hughes, Melancon discussed
The Chicago Cubs have won the first two games in this series, however the Pittsburgh Pirates still have an opportunity to earn a split if it were to match the aforementioned accomplishment. In last night's contest, the lead went back and forth, however the Pirates bullpen allowed an 8-5 lead to slip away in a 9-8 loss. Mark Melancon blew his first save in a 3-run top of the ninth inning. Tonight’s starters: In tonight's game Vance Worley [1-1 5.84 ERA] will take to the mound against ... Read More
Pirates, Melancon lose lead, game in ninth
The Pittsburgh Pirates could not hold an 8-5 lead and Mark Melancon blew his first save of the season falling 9-8 to the Chicago Cubs Tuesday. It was the Cubs that scored first in the top half of the opening inning. Francisco Liriano walked Dexter Fowler and hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch putting the first two batters on base. Kris Bryant picked back up where he left off Monday with a double that scored Fowler. The Pirates got the run back in the first inning scoring in the frame for the ... Read More
Neal Huntington talks Kang, minor leagues
Pittsburgh Pirates Neal Huntington met with assembled media members prior to Sunday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers and discussed a variety of topics.There has been media speculation that the Pirates may send Jung-ho Kang to Triple-A Indianapolis. Huntington however had one question for the media. Why?"We have a ton of respect for what he did in Korea and what our scouts saw and for what we’ve seen so far," Huntington said. "Ten plate appearances into the season after 30-some plate ... Read More
Pirates pregame 4/18: Walker hopes to continue success against Lohse
The Pittsburgh Pirates offense and baserunning reemerged in a 6-3 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates have a chance to win its first home series tonight as Kyle Lohse [0-2 11.17 ERA] takes on Jeff Locke [1-0 3.00 ERA]. Tonight’s starters: Jeff Locke starts for the Pirates. The left-hander won his starting role in Spring Training and is 1-0 on the season winning 6-2 April 10 against the Brewers. In 90 pitches, Locke pitched six innings allowing seven hits, two runs, one walk ... Read More
Pirates players reflect on first home opener
The Pittsburgh Pirates had its 129th home opener Monday and won 5-4 against the Detroit Tigers. The game was played in front of a regular season high attendance total of 39,933. It was a special moment for all in attendance and even more so for five Pirates — Arquimedes Caminero, Jung-ho Kang, Andrew Lambo, Radhames Liz and Rob Scahill — who got to toe the base line and have their names called with the rest of the team's 25-man roster for the first time. Caminero has waited nine years for ... Read More
Pirates will start Harrison at hot corner
Pittsburgh Pirates fans are very excited about the prospects of the third base position in 2015 as Pedro Alvarez has moved across the diamond. Alvarez played himself off the hot corner with a cold bat and also the most errors in all of Major League Baseball. It became a mental issue and this combined with Josh Harrison's dependability led to a switch. Now Harrison goes into 2015 as the clear starter although Jung-ho Kang and Sean Rodriguez will serve as back ups. Harrison likely will be ... Read More
Pirate pitchers continue to battle for limited spots in victory
Jung-ho Kang played the hero in the Pittsburgh Pirates third consecutive Spring Training victory Saturday. Kang came into the game hitting .129, but left with a .171 average after a 2-for-4 day with three RBI. Kang broke what was a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning with an RBI single then won the game in the ninth inning with a two-run home run, his second homer of the spring. Kang's seventh inning RBI came against former Pirate closer Jason Grilli. Stolmy Pimentel made the start for the ... Read More
Pirates major league roster shaping up; team wins shortened game
Jeff Locke pitched 5.2 innings as the Pittsburgh Pirates won a rain-shortened game 4-2 Friday against the Minnesota Twins. The game was called due to rain in the bottom of the eighth inning. Locke is now 1-1 on the season and lowered his ERA from 9.00 to 6.59. He allowed: eight hits, two runs, walked three and struck out two batters. Antonio Bastardo picked up his first save and allowed a hit while striking out two batters in his inning of work. Blake Wood got the final out of the sixth ... Read More