Get out the brooms, because the Pittsburgh Pirates just swept the Atlanta Braves. Sunday at PNC Park, the Pirates beat the Braves 6-5 in 10 innings after winning 6-4 on Saturday and 5-4 on Friday. Pittsburgh starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (6.55 ERA, 1.64 WHIP) turned in a pretty mediocre second start of the season, giving up three runs on eight hits in six innings. Two of those runs came as a result of home runs — Dansby Swanson launched a 390-foot one-run homer in the first inning and ... Read More
Fifth inning derails strong Opening Day start for Gerrit Cole, Pirates
In the first four innings of Monday's season opener against the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates starter Gerrit Cole gave up one hit and one walk on 50 pitches. But all that was derailed in one frame. In the fifth inning, Cole faced all nine of Boston's batters and gave up five runs on six hits. Those five runs were all the Red Sox would need to take home the “W” on opening day at Fenway Park, beating the Pirates by a final score of 5-3. That fifth inning started innocuously enough when ... Read More
Huntington: ‘We’ve got the streakiest team in baseball’
Once again Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington met with reporters prior to Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Reds to discuss his team's struggles and answer questions regarding the remainder of the season. Below is an edited transcript. On Josh Harrison: “This is not going to be day-to-day. We’ll have to see how he responds in 24-48 hours and determine what other diagnostics need to be explored if he is not feeling better.” Neftali Feliz/A.J. Schugel progress: “They’re ... Read More
Pirates drop series finale to Reds, 8-0
The Pittsburgh Pirates were trying to salvage what was a disappointing homestand but instead lost 8-0 Sunday afternoon to the Cincinnati Reds. This was a game in which Ryan Vogelsong struggled through four innings and the offense stranded the bases loaded on two separate occasions. The loss puts the Pirates at 69-72 with 21 games remaining. This loss put the Pirates at 2-8 in their 10-game home stand. "My vision is to get us playing better," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I’m not going to ... Read More
Pirates seeking series split with Reds
The Pittsburgh Pirates enter play Sunday afternoon losers of 10 out of its past 12 games and are looking to avoid dropping a fourth consecutive series, this time against the Cincinnati Reds. Ryan Vogelsong (3-4, 4.07 ERA) will be facing Brandon Finnegan (8-10, 4.17 ERA). Vogelsong is coming off a no decision against the St. Louis Cardinals in which he allowed five runs on six hits over four innings. He is 5-5 with a 4.34 ERA in 21 career appearances (11 starts) against the ... Read More
Pirates continue to sink after loss to Reds
Tony Watson has had a rather consistent career as a relief pitcher, that is unless the Cincinnati Reds are the opponent. This was the case again Friday as the Pittsburgh Pirates were bested by these same Reds, 4-3. Jose Peraza was responsible for bringing home what proved to be the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly that brought Eugenio Suarez back to the Reds dugout with several high fives immediately following. This was set up by Suarez's lead-off single, a Ramon Cabrera sacrifice ... Read More
Kang’s blast ends Pirates’ 8-game losing streak
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jung Ho Kang will admit that this season has been a very disappointing one, but an eighth-inning home run ended the Pirates' eight-game losing streak and secured a 4-3 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals. Kang entered this Wednesday night contest having hit two home runs the night before against the Cardinals, and he added another, blasting a 1-2 pitch left in the upper-middle portion of the strike zone for his 17th home run of the season. Equally as ... Read More
Pirates base running gaffes costly in loss to Brewers
Less than a week after earning a four-game road sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the same Brewers 1-0 Friday night at PNC Park. This loss comes after a 1-5 mark during the team's last homestand, and now the Pirates fall to 67-65 on the season which is 2.5 games behind St. Louis for the second and final National League wild card spot. The Pirates did out-hit the Brewers in this game by a 7-3 margin, but it was what was done on the base paths that did the ... Read More
Cubs, Hendricks blank Pirates, 3-0
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks has the lowest Earned Run Average among qualified pitchers and Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates found out why. All Hendricks (13-7) did was allow three hits in seven innings lowering his ERA to 2.09 as the Cubs bested the Pirates, 3-0. This victory put the Cubs at 21-6 in August, and the 21 wins is the most in a month since May 1977. Meanwhile, the Pirates now fall to 3-11 against the Cubs this season. All the runs needed for Kendrick ... Read More
Pirates bested by Cubs in 13th inning
The Pittsburgh Pirates had the opportunities to extend their road win streak to nine games, but they fell 8-7 to the Chicago Cubs in 13 innings. It was a case of the Pirates running out of bullpen arms, and reliever Jeff Locke (9-8, 5.39 ERA) threw his highest pitch total since Aug. 3 as a result. Locke threw three innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. Eventually, Locke seemed to tire, and he didn't record a single out in the 13th inning before Chicago's Miguel Montero recorded the ... Read More