Good afternoon from PNC Park where tonight the Pirates (60-53) look to take a series from the Marlins (55-58). Edinson Volquez (8-7, 3.91 ERA) will take the hill and oppose Brian Flynn (0-0, 6.00 ERA). Injury Update Neil Walker remains an emergency-only bench player for tonight's game. "He felt better today and was treated this afternoon," said manager Clint Hurdle. "He received treatment when he got to the park. He's going to try and do some more mobility stuff, some flexibility stuff. He ... Read More
Locke shuts down Marlins in Pirates 7-3 win
Jeff Locke went seven strong innings and the bullpen did it's job as the Pirates defeated the Marlins 7-3 on Wednesday night. Locke had a rough start to his night against the Marlins (55-58) allowing a run on three hits in the first capped by a Jeff Baker RBI infield single and two more runs in the second on a Christian Yelich 2-run home run. From there, Locke shut things down allowing one hit over his final five innings of work while striking out four. Locke retired the final 13 batters he ... Read More
How will the Pirates fare without their “big three”?
Andrew McCutchen will be out for at least this homestand with an " avulsion fracture involving the costochondral cartilage of the left 11th rib", Neil Walker is out of the lineup with back problems and Gerrit Cole is making another rehab start in the minors. These injuries come at the most inopportune time as the Pirates are only 2 1/2 games out of first in the NL Central and 1 1/2 games out of the NL wild card thanks, in part, to the continued stellar play of these three. In 109 games played ... Read More
Pirates Gameday 8/6: Cole Update, Hurdle discusses playing with 23
Good afternoon from PNC Park where the Pirates (59-53) look to bounce back from last night's late inning loss to the Marlins (55-57) in the second game of a three-game set. Jeff Locke (2-3, 3.77 ERA) will oppose Tom Koehler (7-8, 3.70 ERA). Injury Update Neil Walker is not in today's lineup after leaving last night's game with a stiff back. "Based on the way he responded last night, there was some tightening up," said manager Clint Hurdle. ":We thought we would give him another full day of ... Read More
Pirates pen falters in 6-3 loss
Charlie Morton put together his strongest start since the 2nd of July, but the Pirate bullpen imploded allowing the Marlins to take the first game of the eight-game homestand 6-3 on Tuesday night. Morton went seven strong innings after working out of two jams. With runners on first and second with one out in the second, Morton induced a fly out and a ground out to end the inning. He worked out of another jam in the fourth after the Marlins tied things at one. With runners on the corners, ... Read More
McCutchen speaks about his injury
Andrew McCutchen spoke prior to the Pirates series-opener against the Marlins about the injury he sustained in the final game of the series at Arizona. It was reported on Monday that McCutchen sustained a serious oblique injury that could have kept him from the field for three to four weeks, but that was not the case as the actual injury McCutchen sustained while taking a swing in the seventh inning was "an avulsion fracture involving the costochondral cartilage of the left 11th rib." An ... Read More
Pirates Gameday 8/5: Injury Update, Hurdle discusses galvanization
Good afternoon from PNC Park where this evening the Pirates (59-52) begin an 8-game homestand against the Marlins (54-57). Charlie Morton (5-10, 3.54 ERA) will look for his first victory since July 2 against Brad Hand (2-3, 4.15 ERA). Injury Update Andrew McCutchen has been diagnosed with an "avulsion fracture involving the costochondral cartilage of the left 11th rib." Meaning the cartilage of the rib was torn off. The team currently doesn't plan on putting McCutchen on the 15-day DL because ... Read More
Pirates must sink or swim with Pedro Alvarez
With the Pittsburgh Pirates’ season on the brink after news came out that reigning National League MVP Andrew McCutchen is heading to the disabled list, Pirates’ manager Clint Hurdle has to find a way to get by for the next month and keep the team in the playoff chase. There are many opinions out there on what to do to during the next month, but for Hurdle and his staff, the answer should be a simple one. Ride Pedro Alvarez. Now that isn’t the answer that many Pirates’ fans want to ... Read More
Is Alvarez done at third?
Pedro Alvarez has been struggling at the hot corner all season, producing a league-leading 24 errors, most coming from overthrows to first base. The frustrations have seemed to carry over to the offensive side where Alvarez is struggling with a .235/.402/.724 slash with 15 home runs, 45 RBI and 95 strikeouts. This has led to him being taken out of games or benched all together. With Josh Harrison playing out of his mind at the moment -- .303/.498/.840 slash line with a 7-game XBH streak -- ... Read More
Pirates use late-inning outburst to beat DBacks 9-4
The Pirates scored eight runs over the final two innings to comeback and defeat the Diamondbacks 9-4 on Friday night. Down 4-1 with one out in the eighth, the Pirates (58-51) started the comeback. Josh Harrison tripled and scored on an Andrew McCutchen RBI double. Pedro Alvarez then hit a pinch-hit 2 RBI double to tie things at four. They would be far from done as they put five more runs up in the top of the ninth. Jordy Mercer gave the Pirates the lead with a RBI double. Michael Martinez, ... Read More