Good afternoon from PNC Park where the Pirates (52-46) look to add onto their three-game win streak against the Dodgers (55-45). Edinson Volquez (8-6, 3.65 ERA) will face Hyun-Jun Ryu (10-5, 3.44 ERA). Injury Update -- Gerrit Cole will throw a sim game on Wednesday at PNC Park. One inning with a screen and three without a screen. "We're going to try to get him to 50-55 pitches, maybe 60," said manager Clint Hurdle. -- Starling Marte is in tonight's starting lineup after pinch-hitting last ... Read More
Pirates make roster moves
The Pirates have made some roster moves in the past 24 hours after placing Starling Marte on the bereavement list. Last night, Marte was placed on the bereavement list due to the death of his mother-in-law. Matt Hague was promoted from AAA Indianapolis to take his place. Hague --who grounded into a double play in his only plate appearance in last night's game in St. Louis -- was hitting .267 (76-for-285) with 13 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs and an International League-leading 59 RBI ... Read More
Pirates Gameday 6/26: Injury Update, Hurdle Discusses Harrison as an All-Star
Good afternoon from PNC Park where today the Pirates (39-39) begin a 10-game homestand against the New York Mets (36-42). Vance Worley (1-0, 1.98 ERA) will oppose Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-1, 2.68 ERA). Injury Update Starling Marte: "The neck, the head aren't really an issue," said manager Clint Hurdle. "He's being treated for that right-middle finger. He's gone and tried to hit, so we're going to find out what the availability he'll have tonight. It's better than it was yesterday, but we're going ... Read More
Pirates Power Past Cubs 6-2
Charlie Morton received an extra day of rest since his previous start and it seemed to pay off as the righty pitched seven strong innings as the Pirates got the series-opening victory over the Cubs 6-2. Morton allowed one run on six hits -- two of which didn't go past the pitchers mound-- over his seven innings of work while striking out seven. The only Cubs run came in the sixth when Anthony Rizzo singled off of the glove of a diving Jordy Mercer with two out. Starlin Castro followed with a ... Read More
Pirates Gameday 6/6: Hurdle Talks Tabata’s Hot Bat vs. Lohse, Marte Update
Good afternoon from PNC Park where tonight the Pirates (28-31) begin a pivotal three-game series with the Brewers (36-25), who are seven games ahead of the Bucs for first place in the NL Central. Brandon Cumpton (0-2, 6.85 ERA) will take the hill and will face Kyle Lohse (7-1, 2.60 ERA). Hurdle's Quotes On Jose Tabata starting in LF tonight: "It because Tabata has had a really good history hitting [Lohse] if you have looked at his numbers. It's not 12 at bats, it's 33 at bats, it's 14 hits, ... Read More
The Curious Case of Starling Marte
While all of the talk around the Pittsburgh Pirates as of late has surrounded super-prospect Gregory Polanco, the Bucs have a bigger problem to worry about at the moment and that is trying to get left fielder Starling Marte figured out. After a 2013 season, his first full one in the majors, that saw Marte post a .280/.343/.441 line, including 41 steals, the mere fact that Marte hasn't taken the next step is one of the more disappointing aspects surrounding this 2014 team. That rings ... Read More
Mental Mistakes Lead to Dodgers Blowout
Brandon Cumpton couldn't recover from key defensive errors in the third inning as the Dodgers took advantage to put up 11 runs (10 earned) off of Cumpton in the third and fourth innings leading to a Dodger 12-2 victory over the Pirates on Saturday night. After allowing two first inning two-out RBI singles to Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp, Cumpton retired the next four hitters and seemed to have gotten into a grove. That would be short lived though, as Andre Ethier sent a fly ball to the ... Read More
Pirates Salvage Game From Yankees
The Pirates (18-25) continued to make mistakes, but this time they made up for them as they came back twice to defeat the Yankees (23-20) 5-3 to salvage a game and avoid the sweep. Gerrit Cole put together another quality start by going six strong innings while allowing three runs and striking out eight. Two of the runs coming in an inning full of Errors. With the Pirates leading 1-0 after two Yankee mistakes allowed Starling Marte to reach first and second safely before scoring on a Chris ... Read More
Pirates Get to K-Rod, Beat Brewers 4-1
The Pittsburgh Pirates (17-22) evened up their series against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight, winning 4-1 behind a solid performance from SP Francisco Liriano. Bryan Morris, Tony Watson, and Mark Melancon finished off the final three innings, with Melancon racking up save number five since taking over for injured closer Jason Grilli. The Brewers (25-15) were unable to get anything going against Liriano until scoring the tying run on a Jeff Bianchi sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth ... Read More
Marte Walks-Off on a Replay Reversal
The Pirates and Giants made history in the oddest way as an overturned replay gave the Bucs their fifth walk-off of the season in a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night. With two outs in the ninth, Starling Marte hit a Tim Hudson fastball off of the Clemente wall for an apparent triple. The relay throw went to third, but went past third basemen Pablo Sandoval. Marte then took off towards the plate and slid head-first at catcher Buster Posey. Posey applied the tag and home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott ... Read More