If you’re a baseball fan, you’ve probably heard an announcer say “with two strikes, you have to swing at anything close and protect the plate”.  The announcers say this because sometimes the umpire might call the pitch a strike, even though it is actually a ball.  Then again, sometimes the umpire calls a pitch a ball when it should have been strike three.  The former happened to Andrew McCutchen during Wednesday’s game.  McCutchen took strike 3, even though the digital strike zone grid clearly ... Read More

On the eve of the one year anniversary of Charlie Morton's Tommy John Surgery, the right hander took the mound for his first big league start of the season.  Unfortunately, his start coincided with one of the worst games played by the Pirates all season. Morton and the bullpen surrendered nine runs, the defense committed three errors, and the lineup only produced three hits as the Pirates were blown out 10-0 in the season finale, Thursday night. Morton got off to a rough start to begin the ... Read More

Before No. 1 prospect Gerrit Cole made his Major League debut yesterday for the Pittsburgh Pirates, closer Jason Grilli said that he was hoping the veterans on the team could rally around Cole and use his start to fire them up. It worked as the Pirates offense scored eight runs after struggling for the last couple of weeks. Apparently the offense was still fired up from Cole's start as they scored 11 runs on 18 hits en route to a 11-8 series-clinching victory over the San Francisco ... Read More

96, 96, 99, strikeout, a giant applause. That's the first impression that Gerrit Cole left on the city of Pittsburgh in his Major League debut. The Pirates won the game 8-2 but this game was about Cole and Cole alone. "I really couldn't feel my legs after that," Cole said. "The crowd kind of went crazy and I didn't really expect that." The 2011 No. 1 overall pick out of UCLA pounded the zone early and often as he had a 20/5 strike-to-ball ratio after the second inning and a nine-pitch, ... Read More

By Ross Insana: Legendary wrestling public address announcer Michael Buffer uttered those words many of times, but the world-renowned phrase could not be far from the truth tomorrow night at PNC Park when Pirates top prospect Gerrit Cole makes his Major League debut. This is in fact the “main event” that has been two years in the making for Pirates fans and the time has finally arrived. Since rumors began floating around on Friday of his apparent promotion and subsequent Major League debut, ... Read More

CHICAGO — Pirates rookie reliever Justin Wilson was due to take a loss eventually, but against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday was an odd time to do it. Over his first 22 outings, Wilson ran off five consecutive victories and led all National League relievers with 35 innings pitched. He took over in a tie game Sunday after starter Jeff Locke allowed just one hit in 52⁄3 innings. At that point, it already had been a wild ride. The Cubs scored a run before they got their first hit. Locke ... Read More

At Pittsburgh Sporting News, we want to bring you the latest happenings around the Pittsburgh sports scene. While you can choose any other place to get the basic info, we want to give you a different look at the sports that are going on. One of the ways we want to do that is to connect the fans to the sports. We want your take on what is going on. At the most recent Pirates homestand, I interviewed fans before the game to find out their thoughts on the Pittsburgh Pirates. The past two years, ... Read More

There's always that one pitcher that fans of a team hate to see. For the Pirates, it isn't Clayton Kershaw, Matt Cain or any other elite pitcher; it's Jeff Samardzija. In two starts against the Pirates this season, Samardzija allowed just one run in 15 innings. In a rematch of opening day, Samardzija and A.J. Burnett squared off in the windy city Thursday afternoon. Finally, the Pirates were able to figure Samardzija out as they knocked him around for four runs en route to a 6-2 victory. The ... Read More