PITTSBURGH -- Jeanmar Gomez is Josh Harrison's new best friend. That's one offbeat way of looking at Gomez's stellar emergency pitching Tuesday night, when he blanked Seattle for the first five innings of the Pirates' 4-1 Interleague victory at PNC Park. The Bucs again pushed a veteran pitcher to a first-inning cliff -- this time, righty Aaron Harang -- only to let him regain his footing. Unlike Sunday against Washington's Gio Gonzalez, however, they survived the clemency, as Gomez and ... Read More
Pirates waste first inning in loss to Nationals
PITTSBURGH -- On Marathon Day in the city, the Bucs came out of the PNC Park gate like racecourse rabbits, setting a blistering pace. But they couldn't run away from Gio Gonzalez, who used his second wind to knock the wind out of the Bucs. The story of the 6-2 loss to the Nationals was written early, long before Tyler Moore's three-run homer off Bryan Morris in the eighth ended any suspense. The Bucs' best chance to avoid losing consecutive home games for the first time this season came ... Read More
Pirates fall victim to Murphy’s Law in loss to Nationals
The Pirates have been one of the better teams in baseball so far this season. There's really no denying that. Unfortunately, every good team will have its bad days. The Pirates fell victim to Murphy's Law as they walked eight and hit three batters as a team, en route to a loss to the Nationals by the score of 5-4. "We've played very good ball to this point. Every once and awhile you have a game where you're not in sync," Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. "All of those walks and hit batters ... Read More
McKenry jumps at the chance to give back to the community
When you think about athletes, some of the words that you'll associate with them right away are rich, gifted and celebrities. I think all three are accurate, fair assessments. There is one major one, though, that I have to disagree with. Too often, the word hero gets thrown around when an athlete hits a game-winning home run or scores the winning goal. With the recent events that took place in Boston, the true heroes are the first responders and the police of the city. True heroes are the ... Read More
Pirates steal finale in Milwaukee to avoid sweep
MILWAUKEE -- As the saying goes, having Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli in their bullpen is allowing the Pirates to shorten games to seven innings. The rest of the National League only wishes that were true. Even the dreaded Brewers. Without an eighth inning, there'd be no Ambush Alley and not many wins. Again, the Pirates came alive Wednesday afternoon with four runs in the eighth off another bullpen in their bull's eye to interrupt their Miller Park misery. Can't say that the Bucs' 6-4 ... Read More
Pirates are proving to be a contender
The Major League Baseball Season is only 25 games old, but the Pirates are showing that they are good enough to battle with the elites of the National League. So far this season they have faced some pretty stiff competition, such as the Dodgers, Braves, and Reds. Last week they had a ten-game home-stand when the Reds, Cardinals, and the Braves came into town. Those 10 games were shortened to nine because of a rainout, but in those nine games the Buccos went 7-2. That’s pretty legit if you ... Read More
Pirates led by Martin, Jones and Locke in blowout win over Cardinals
ST. LOUIS -- Clint Hurdle always calls baseball, alternately, a funny or a wonderful game. This episode probably qualifies as both. Jeff Locke began the season as the Pirates' No. 5 starter, and now is riding a scoreless streak of 13 innings after going the first seven on Sunday as the Bucs downed the Cardinals, 9-0, to vault over St. Louis in the National League Central. It can be reasonably assumed that Locke has earned a promotion to the No. 4 slot, previously occupied by Jonathan ... Read More
Yinzer of the Week: Gaby Sanchez
The Pirates have been red hot lately, winning five of their seven games this past week. The only game in which the Pirates allowed more than four runs was last night against the St Louis Cardinals. A big part of their success has been the bats that have come alive. One of those bats just happens to be our Yinzer of the Week, Gaby Sanchez. Sanchez hit .416 this past week, totaling six hits in 13 at-bats. His six hits came in pairs, giving him three multiple hit games during the stretch. On each ... Read More
Pirates rally late to beat Phillies 5-3
MLB.com PHILADELPHIA -- On a night Wandy Rodriguez did just enough to keep his team in the game, the Pirates did just enough to secure a win on Wednesday. Rodriguez allowed three runs, including solo home runs by Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, on nine hits, but Pittsburgh rallied against the Phillies' bullpen for a 5-3 win at Citizens Bank Park. Roy Halladay had a third straight solid outing before the relief corps surrendered three runs over the seventh and eighth ... Read More
A.J. Burnett showing dominance through the strikeout
So far throughout the 2013 season, Pittsburgh Pirates ace A.J. Burnett has pitched well enough to have more than one win. Despite his less than spectacular start Monday night against the Philadelphia Phillies, Burnett has posted a 2.79 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with an opponent’s batting average of only .208. In his five starts this season, Burnett is certainly looking like he can build off what was a very good 2012 campaign. But even though he has only started 1-2 and has strong number across the ... Read More