It was a long 12 days away from PNC Park for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but a 4-1 victory Friday against the Cincinnati Reds has extended the Pirates' current win-streak to a season-high five games. The Pirates now improve to 14-9 on the season, while the Reds drop to 9-14. The win had four big takeaways: Nicasio has best start of season Seven games isn't a large sample size, but it was telling enough that, coming into this game, Juan Nicasio was 0-2 with a 5.12 ERA in 19.1 innings pitched ... Read More
Pirates sightseeing: Pirates win series, leave a lot to be desired
By no means was it pretty, but the Pittsburgh Pirates did just enough to take two of three games from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Here are my takeaways from the weekend that was. This bullpen is still a mess I feel as though every series I have been critical of the bullpen, so forgive me if there is repetition, but this is getting ridiculous. All weekend the bullpen did not rise up to the task and once again clearly was the weak link. Regardless of weather, it should not take eight ... Read More
COLUMN: Bullpen surprisingly Pirates’ weak link early on
The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen has been rock solid under manager Clint Hurdle, but early on this season, it can be a big thing holding the team back from winning. I will preface this by saying 10 games is way too early and way too small of a sample size, but still the current body of work needs to be judged and that is where relief pitching has fallen short. This season, the normally good Pirates bullpen has a 5.11 Earned Run Average through 10 games. I know what you're thinking: What ... Read More
Pirates pregame: Bullpen effective at changing speeds
Last night, Jordy Mercer took a changeup to the opposite field for the game-winning hit in the 11th inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5. Tonight, the Pirates will attempt to make a statement with an opening series sweep against the Cardinals, a team coming off a season-high 100 wins last season. Pittsburgh righthander Juan Nicasio will get the start for the Pirates, and his mound opponent will be Mike Leake. Nicasio is coming off a spring training ... Read More
Liriano fans 10 in Pirates Opening Day win
It's hard to believe, but the most important at-bat came two batters into the bottom of the second inning. Josh Harrison was facing St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright, with Gregory Polanco on second base after a lead-off double that hit off the Clemente Wall in right field. Harrison took a 2-1 offering and hit a ground ball, which allowed Polanco to advance to third base. Not only did this move a runner forward, something which was not done in the first inning when the Pittsburgh ... Read More
McCutchen continues producing in loss
Andrew McCutchen openly admits that he was not 100 percent at the beginning of last season. His leg injury was especially difficult because that is where he gets his power from. This season McCutchen made it a point to work on his legs in the off-season and it has served him well. McCutchen struck again in the first inning of Sunday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays hitting an opposite field home run. He has now homered in three consecutive games and four of the past five. That would ... Read More
2015 most valuable Pirates player: Part 1
Many Pittsburgh Pirates contributed to the team's third consecutive playoff appearance, so it is no wonder why the list for placement when it comes to the most valuable player for 2015 is long. PSN's list will be a three-part series as honorable mention through 6 in this first part, 5-2 in the second part and the best will get their own separate entry. Unfortunately, Ray Searage was not up for consideration, or else this would not have been a contest. Honorable mention Jared Hughes- Hughes ... Read More
Pirates set to battle Cardinals pivotal NL Central series
Following an 8-2 road trip, the Pirates return home for a six-game homestand to conclude the regular season. An important three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals is on tap first. Recalling the road trip, despite a setback Sunday, Tony Watson was pleased with the team's overall body of work. “It’s never easy going to the West Coast, especially this time of year and we faced some good arms, some Cy Young candidates obviously," Watson said. "We’ve had and will continue to have tough ... Read More
Pirates best Rockies to open four-game series
Starling Marte fell a triple short of hitting for the cycle as the Pittsburgh Pirates won 9-3 Monday night against the Colorado Rockies. Marte started with a first inning home run, his second in as many games. The ball left the bat at 106 miles-per-hour and quickly departed into the left field seats. The homer, hit off Jon Gray [0-2], was his 18th of the season. Jordy Mercer came into the contest hitting .185 in the month of September but after Andrew McCutchen caught the 27th and final ... Read More
Pirates pregame 9/17: Former reliever gives Watson valuable advice
The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to win its afternoon contest Thursday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs. If the Pirates do win it will avoid losing its first four-game series of the season. This afternoon, Charlie Morton will face Kyle Hendricks. Morton is 3-5 with a 4.71 ERA in 13 career starts against the Cubs. Morton won his last start, snapping a three-game losing streak. In the start, Morton allowed two runs on three hits over six innings of work against the Milwaukee ... Read More