Atlanta - The Pirates wrapped up a tough road series with a 5-0 loss against the Braves. The story of the game was Julio Teheran, who came four outs away from pitching a no-hitter against the Bucs. Teheran struck out eleven batters and didn't allow a hit until there were two outs in the top of the eighth inning. Brandon Inge had the lone hit for the Pirates, as he picked up a pinch-hit off of Teheran to end the no-hit bid. Wandy Rodriguez started for the Pirates, and was removed to the ... Read More
Pirates drop second straight to Braves in extra innings
ATLANTA - The Bucs lost their second straight game, and dropped their second consecutive series in Atlanta tonight by the score of 5-4. Jeff Locke was on the hill for the Pirates and didn't have his best stuff. He allowed three runs through 5.2 innings. He was pulled after 103 pitches for recently called up Ryan Reid who blew the lead almost instantly. Reid allowed a two-run homer to B.J. Upton in the bottom of the sixth which tied the game up at 4-4. Tony Watson and Jason Grilli each ... Read More
Going on the defensive
We hear it all of the time. It doesn't just occur with baseball players, but athletes in every sport. When they first arrive to their respective league, the fans and media want to judge them right away. While it's no secret that Pedro Alvarez and Garrett Jones can both hit the long ball with the best of them - Jones' mammoth shot into the river on Sunday can attest to that - we don't necessarily think of them as being the best fielders in the world. When talking with Tim Williams from Pirates ... Read More
Pirates downed by Braves on the road
The Pittsburgh Pirates kept up their trend of losing the first game of the series Monday night as they fell to the Atlanta Braves, 7-2. The Pirates started out on top, scoring off of a Gaby Sanchez ground rule double in the 3rd inning, but everything went downhill in the 4th. First, starting pitcher AJ Burnett gave up a two-run shot to Brian McCann, driving in Freddie Freeman, who walked to start off the inning. Then, after some arguable calls, manager Clint Hurdle and catcher Russell Martin ... Read More
Pirates waste solid outing from Liriano, lose 2-0 to Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano turned in an outing worthy enough of a victory. Unfortunately for him, the Pirates offense made sure that wouldn’t happen. Liriano struck out 11 in six innings of work, allowing only four hits and a questionable earned run, but the Bucs bats were silenced for a second consecutive night by a Cincinnati Reds starter as the Pirates were shutout by the Reds 2-0. A night after Johnny Cueto tossed eight shutout innings against the Pirates, ... Read More
Pirate of the Week: Neil Walker
The Pittsburgh Pirates have been red hot lately, winning nine of their last twelve and nineteen games total in the month of May. For the past seven days, no one has been as hot for the Bucs as second baseman, Neil Walker. Over the past week, Walker has had multi-hit games in five of the Pirates seven games. He put one over the fence in three of those games and drove in a run in four of them. He also crossed the plate in five of the seven games. For the week he hit .440, with eleven hits, three ... Read More
“We Are Baseball Nuts From Germany” – 30 Stadiums in Three Months
As much as hockey means to Canada, that's what baseball means to America. It is, after all America's sport. Baseball is popular all over the world, though. An event like the World Baseball Classic helps elevate baseball's status globally. Countries like Japan, Dominican Republic and Cuba are hotbeds for baseball talent. One country that isn't usually associated with baseball is Germany. Their national sport is football and its top league is known as Bundesliga. Germany also has a baseball ... Read More
Locke-d and loaded
Each year, there seems to be that one player that breaks out from behind that shadows and takes the city, and league, by storm. Last year for the Pirates, that guy was James McDonald. Now, we of course know the story with McDonald. He came over in the Octavio Dotel trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last year was the year that J-Mac became a household name, at least for the first half of the season. McDonald was considered an All-Star snub and in the running for the Cy Young Award before the ... Read More
Can Pirates’ Jason Grilli continue record setting pace?
When the Pittsburgh Pirates made the decision to trade former closer Joel Hanrahan to the Boston Red Sox and hand the job to set-up man Jason Grilli, it was often questioned how the veteran would handle to transition from the eighth inning to the pressures of pitching in the ninth inning. With close to two months of the 2013 season now in the books, Grilli hasn't just made the transition to closer, he’s made it look easy. Grilli not only currently leads all of baseball with 21 saves at the ... Read More
Pirates Pick Up Extra Inning Victory Over Tigers On Walker Home Run
After a 6-5 loss yesterday, the Pirates wrapped up their two-game road series against the Tigers with a hard fought extra inning victory against the Tigers. The story of the game was pitching, and Rick Porcello and Jeanmar Gomez each looked brilliant on the mound tonight. Porcello, who came into the game with an ERA over six, pitched one of the best games of his career. The 24-year old pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing only three hits, while striking out eleven batters. His strikeout ... Read More