The Pittsburgh Pirates gave A.J. Burnett the most run support he had all season on Thursday night and it was enough to give him his first win of the season. The Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds by a 7-2 score. Burnett [1-1] was the difference maker in the game for the Pirates on both sides of the ball. Burnett pitched seven innings, allowing seven hits, two runs, two walks and four strikeouts on 85 pitches, 52 of which were strikes. Burnett is now second in the National League with a 1.66 ... Read More
Pirates can’t find bats in loss to Reds
Michael Lorenzen made his second ever major league start, however Pittsburgh Pirates fans may be unable to tell after allowing one run on three hits in Tuesday night's 7-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. “We’ve still got to keep working on having manageable at-bats, that’s the one thing we continue to talk about, making sure that we’re getting the pitch we want early in the count," manager Clint Hurdle said. "We missed some pitches we probably could have hit tonight, we’ve just got to do what ... Read More
Two out hits help Pirates prevail
The Pittsburgh Pirates have begun its nine game road trip with a series win after a 2-1 victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Pirates have now won four consecutive games. A.J. Burnett had his fourth consecutive quality start throwing seven innings allowing five hits, one run, two walks and four strikeouts on 88 pitches, 54 of which were strikes. This is the longest outing for Burnett in 2015 and the first time he has pitched seven innings since Sept. 6 of last season. The ... Read More
Pirates pregame 4/21: Team faces left-hander for first time
The Pittsburgh Pirates continue its series against the Chicago Cubs tonight at 7:05 p.m. This is the second of four games. Last night the Pirates fell 5-2 due in large part to a three-run seventh inning against Arquimedes Caminero. Tonight’s starters: Starting for the Pirates in this contest is Francisco Liriano [0-1 2.08 ERA]. Liriano is 4-2 with a 2.30 ERA in nine career starts against the Cubs. Liriano went 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA in three starts last season against them. Liriano also has ... Read More
Pirates complete sweep of Brewers
The Pittsburgh Pirates earned a sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers winning 5-2 Sunday afternoon. The win pushes the Pirates to .500 for the first time this season. For a second consecutive game, it was a chaotic first inning for both sides. In the top half, the Brewers had the bases loaded with two outs and Gerrit Cole [2-0] got Gerardo Parra to fly out to left field ending the threat. In the bottom half of the frame, the Pirates got three consecutive singles with Andrew McCutchen's ... Read More
Pirates aggressive on base paths in win
Earlier in the day, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle told the media that the team did not have many chances to be aggressive. That changed Friday. The Pirates took the extra base and the aggression helped propel them to a 6-3 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers in front of 25,664 fans. Vance Worley [1-1] got the win nearly a week after getting roughed up for six runs in a loss to these same Brewers. Worley pitched six innings allowing six hits, walking four [two of which were ... Read More
Burnett, Pirates on wrong side of pitchers’ duel
A.J. Burnett toed the rubber against Nick Castellanos and the Detroit Tigers. With runners on second and third base in the fourth inning this was Burnett's first test all game, and 31,755 Pittsburgh Pirates fans knowing this started to cheer the home pitcher in an effort to fire him up. The result was the first fist pump from Burnett this season and a strike out to end the inning. “Anytime you’ve got guys in scoring position, it’s big but it was a big pitch at a big time," Burnett said. ... Read More
Pirates win home opener in front of largest ever regular season crowd
The 39,933 fans that sold out PNC Park already were excited to see their Pittsburgh Pirates return for the first time since a Wild Card loss, but a Josh Harrison first pitch home run in addition to Gerrit Cole's pitching provided the ingredients to a 5-4 home opener victory over the Detroit Tigers Monday. Harrison's home run came in the bottom of the first after Cole pitched a hitless 13-pitch first inning. Anibal Sanchez [1-1] gave up his first run of the season on the homer and it came on a ... Read More
Pirates lose in extra innings
In the second of a three game season opening series, the Pittsburgh Pirates shook off a 2-hour 34 minute rain delay but could not do the same with the Cincinnati Reds falling 5-4 early Thursday morning in 11 innings. Both starters had high pitch counts in this game with Gerrit Cole departing after five innings for the Pirates and Mike Leake 5.2 with the Reds. Both received no decisions. Cole threw 92 pitches, 56 of which were strikes while allowing five hits and three runs. Cole also ... Read More
Alvarez, defense keys in Pirates tie
The Pittsburgh Pirates saw its first two pitchers on staff have good outings in a 3-3 extra inning tie Wednesday evening against the Baltimore Orioles. Francisco Liriano was the first to pitch and threw three innings while allowing his first run of Spring Training. Liriano now has a 0.75 ERA. He allowed three hits and struck out two batters in his time on the mound. Liriano was replaced by Gerrit Cole who threw three scoreless innings allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three ... Read More