There are guys on their respective teams in their respective sports that deserve to win a championship for the work they’ve put in. Todd Helton in Colorado comes to mind, as does Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes. For the Pirates, it’s the city that deserves the championship the most after the 20 years of losing. But the one person on the Pirates that deserves a ring more than anyone may just be Jeff Banister. Pirates’ Director of Media Relations Jim Trdinich joked with Banister that I ... Read More
It hit me. The Pirates are for real
Has it even hit you yet? I mean really, really hit you. You can look at the standings all you want and see 69-34. No matter how many times you refresh the page, it will say the Pirates are leading the National League Central and are up there as the best team in baseball.But have you actually grasped that yet? I didn't, well, at least until yesterday. On my way home from the newspaper, I was listening to my good pal Dan Zangrilli and Kevin Orrie do the Pirates postgame show on 93.7 The Fan. ... Read More
Morton Solid, Cutch Leads offense In Pirates 4 – 2 Win
PNC Park -- Morton pitched seven innings of two-run ball and Andrew McCutchen led the offense with a homer in a Pirates 4 - 2 victory over the Marlins on Wednesday night. Charlie Morton rebounded from his previous start where he allowed 10 hits and 5 runs by throwing seven innings of sit hit, two run ball. He only allowed more than one base runner to reach in one inning, the fourth, where the Marlins scored their only to runs. Giancarlo Stanton led the inning off with a single and moved to ... Read More
Pirates Gameday: Wandy DL Update, Hurdle Talks Contribution
PNC Park -- The Pirates (68 - 44) look to take yet another series as they take on the Marlins (43 - 68) in game two of their three game set. Charlie Morton (3 - 3, 4.07 ERA) will face Tom Koehler (3 - 6, 4.34 ERA). Leading Off Last night's pinch-hit, walkoff home run by Josh Harrison was the first by a Pittsburgh player since Craig Wilson took Milwaukee's Chad Fox deep in the second game of a doubleheader on 9/3/2001 for a 3 - 2 victory. Hurdle's Quotes On the contributions of everyone in ... Read More
Harrison Walk-Off Lifts Pirates to 4 – 3 Victory
(Photo Credit: Gene J. Puskar / AP) PNC Park -- Josh Harrison sent a 1 - 1 fastball from left hander, Mike Dunn into the right-center field seats for a Pirates walk-off 4 - 3 victory on Tuesday night. It completed a comeback from an early 3-run hole created by the Marlins against starter, Jeff Locke. They got on the board once in the second when they lead off the inning by loading the bases. Locke would then get Jeff Mathis to pop out to first, but Marlins starter, Henderson Alvarez would ... Read More
Pirates Gameday: Liriano Named N.L. POTW, Hurdle Talks Closers
(Photo Credit: Matt Freed/Post-Gazette) PNC Park -- The Pirates (67 - 44) look to enact revenge on the Marlins (43 - 67) after dropping 2-of-3 in Miami a week and a half ago. Jeff Locke (9 - 3, 2.36 ERA) will face Henderson Alvarez (2 - 1, 2.61 ERA). Leading Off Francisco Liriano was named NL Player of the Week after going 2 - 0 in two starts last week, ranking among the league leaders with 14 innings pitched (2nd) and 14 strikeouts (T-4th). His 0.64 ERA (1 ER / 14 IN) was the lowest among ... Read More
Pirates’ McGuire off to stellar start to pro career
Lost amidst the success the Pittsburgh Pirates are currently having at the major league level this season is the fact that some of their top minor prospects have performed above the level that their lofty expectations would have even suggested. One of those such guys is 2013 first-round pick Reese McGuire. Not only did the Pirates sign both of their first-round selections this season, but McGuire has gotten off to such a strong start to his professional career that you can see what all the ... Read More
Burnett Goes The Distance In 5 – 1 Victory
(Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) PNC Park – A.J. Burnett pitched his best game of the season (so far) as he went the distance in a Pirates 5 – 1 victory on Sunday afternoon. His battery mate, Russell Martin, provided most of the offense with a three run homer in the fifth inning to break things open. “They threw me a lot of breaking balls today and talking to Jay (Bell), the guy throws a lot of sliders so I decided to wait for one and he threw the first pitch right where I ... Read More
The Journey of Tony Sanchez
(Photo Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports) Most major league catchers make their debut in low-leverage situations. Tony Sanchez made his first career catching start in a larger atmosphere. With back-up catcher, Michael McKenry shut down for the rest of the season, the team looked to Sanchez in the heart of a pennant race. To make things even more interesting, manager, Clint Hurdle set that first start against the St. Louis Cardinals in the middle of the “Biggest series in PNC Park ... Read More
Pirates Back On Track With 5-2 Victory
(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) PNC Park – Francisco Liriano pitched another gem Saturday night as he threw 7 innings of shutout ball to halt the Pirates 2-game losing skid with a 5 - 2 win over the Rockies. The Rockies threatened early against Liriano as they had second and third in the first with one out. Francisco would then get Michael Cuddyer to strikeout and Will Rosario to groundout to end the threat. They would have two more on in the third thanks to two one ... Read More