An all-around offensive effort and some gritty pitching by Gerrit Cole helped the Pirates keep their Wild Card lead with a 7-3 victory over the Cubs on Friday night. The Pirates (78-69) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on RBI singles by Chris Stewart and Neil Walker. Both teams then traded runs over the next two innings thanks to two solo home runs against Cole and RBI from Jordy Mercer and Ike Davis. The Cubs (64-82) major threat came against Cole in the sixth when Chris Coghlan walked to ... Read More
Pirates Gameday 9/12: Hurdle discusses Cole’s command
Good afternoon from PNC Park where the Pirates (77-69) begin their final homestand of the regular season against the Cubs (64-82). Gerrit Cole (8-5, 3.89 ERA) will start it off for the Bucs and will oppose Tsuyoshi Wada (4-2, 2.95 ERA). Injury Update Starling Marte's status for tonight's game is TBD after being hit in the elbow with a pitch in last night's game. "He's in the cage [pregame] to see how he feels from a physical standpoint swinging the bat," said manager Clint Hurdle. Pedro ... Read More
Liriano pushes Pirates closer to Cardinals
Francisco Liriano threw his best outing of the season throwing eight innings of shutout ball in a 4-1 victory over the Phillies on Thursday night to inch them closer to the division-leading Cardinals. Liriano didn't allow a single Phillies baserunner — five total in the game — to reach third base. He did, however, escape a jam of first and second in the third inning with no out. Liriano struck out Phillies starter A.J. Burnett, retired Ben Revere on a lineout to left and struck out Maikel ... Read More
Never Forget
Everyone in America knows where they were, what they were doing, who they were with on Sept. 11th, 2001. For me — a 13-year-old in the eighth grade — the day had a different start than most of you. I had been sick the night before with the Flu and stayed home from school. I awakened at my grandparents house around 10:30 a.m. and walked into the living room to find both grandparents watching footage of rubble with smoke billowing out of it. Those were what was left of World Trade Center towers ... Read More
Power and speed lift Pirates past Phillies
The speed of Andrew McCutchen and the power of Russell Martin helped push the Pirates past the Phillies 6-3 Wednesday night to keep their 1 1/2 game lead in the National League Wild Card race. With the Pirates (76-69) trailing the Phillies 3-2 in the fifth inning, Andrew McCutchen showed everyone his rib injury isn't affecting him as he hit a deep fly that hit off of the heightened wall in left-center field. The ball took an odd bounce towards center allowing McCutchen and his speed to ... Read More
Alvarez diagnosed with stress reaction in foot
Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Pedro Alvarez has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in the 4th metatarsal in his left foot. The typical recovery time for this type of injury is 4-6 weeks. Alvarez has not played in a game for the Pirates since September 5, and he hasn't started a game for the Pirates since August 26. ... Read More
Can John Holdzkom impact bullpen for stretch run?
John Holdzkom is quickly becoming a household name in the city of Pittsburgh. Though he has only been with the Pirates for less than two weeks, and has a grand total of three appearances over that span, the well-traveled reliever is certainly getting a lot of attention. With an imposing 6'7 frame, and a fastball clocking in the upper 90s, Holdzkom stands out on the mound. Over his first three appearances, he's used that overpowering fastball to record six strikeouts and get his first major ... Read More
Pirate bats continue to remain hot in 6-4 win over Phillies
Jeff Locke recovered from his bad outing in St. Louis to throw seven innings of one-run ball and the Pirates lumber remained hot with a four-run eighth propelling the Bucs to their fourth straight win, a 6-4 victory over the Phillies. Locke retired the first ten batters he faced before experiencing trouble in the fourth. Ryan Howard hit a two-out single to put the Phillies (66-77) on the board. Marlon Byrd followed with a double putting runners on second and third, but Locke was able to ... Read More
Pirates 2015 schedule released
The 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates schedule was released Monday by Major League Baseball. The Pirates will begin the season on April 6th in Cincinnati and their first home date will be Monday, April 13th when they open up a three-game set with the Detroit Tigers. This year's interleague schedule will feature teams from the American League Central as the Tigers, Indians, Twins and White Sox will come to PNC Park. The Pirates will travel to Kansas City, Minnesota, Detroit and Chicago (AL). The ... Read More
Gut-check time for the Pirates
The Cardinals recent three game sweep of the Pirates has them in an uneasy position going into the final stretch of the 2014 regular season. The Pirates trail St. Louis by 4 1/2 games for first in the National League Central and trail Milwaukee/Atlanta by a half game for the second Wild Card spot with 21 games remaining. Pittsburgh has been in this position twice already this season before coming all the way back. They trailed the division leader by nine games at the end of June, but trimmed ... Read More