In the opener of a three-game series that will determine which team hosts Tuesday's National League Wild Card one-game playoff, the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark, 4-1, behind a strong outing from A.J. Burnett. Burnett, now 10-11 on the season, has often suffered from a lack of offensive support, but the Pirates jumped to an early 2-0 lead when Marlon Byrd singled with the bases loaded in the third inning off of Homer Bailey (11-12). Todd Frazier ... Read More
Pirates move a game ahead of Reds with win over Cubs
CHICAGO -- Gerrit Cole's stellar September continued on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field and the Pirates regained the top National League Wild Card spot with four regular-season games remaining. Cole tossed six strong innings and drove in two runs to lead the Bucs to an 8-2 win over the Cubs that moved them a game ahead of Cincinnati for the first Wild Card, as the Reds lost to the Mets. The Pirates also remained two games behind St. Louis in the NL Central with a Cardinals win over the ... Read More
Pirates beat Cubs in close one; clinch playoff berth
CHICAGO -- The Pittsburgh Pirates are going to the playoffs. No, you did not read that wrong, they are going to the National League playoffs. With their 2-1 victory tonight over the Chicago Cubs today, the Pirates will be playing in October for the first time since 1992. The Pirates got on the board early, as the second batter of the game, Neil Walker, hit a solo home run. There wasn't much for the Bucs offense after that until the top of the ninth inning, when Starling Marte had one of the ... Read More
Tyler Glasnow: Pirates Minor League Player-of-the-Year
Tyler Glasnow, this years Pirates minor league pitcher of-the-year, held up to his preseason #9 ranking on the Pirates Prospects list as he recorded a 9 - 3 record for Class-A West Virginia while recording a 2.18 era in 24 starts while striking out 164 batters and walking 61. The great numbers weren't part of Glasnow's plan at the start of the season. It was strictly work to get better. "My focus at the beginning of the year was to not really think of results, not really think of stats," said ... Read More
Pirates better get used to pressure
On Friday night, the Pirates lost a heartbreaker in the opener of a crucial three game set against division rival Cincinnati in one of the most crushing losses for the Pirates in recent memory. Everything was going the Bucs way: Francisco Liriano had shut down the Reds, allowing just 2 runs over 8 fantastic frames, the offense picked him up behind back-to-back homers by Jose Tabata and Neil Walker to lead off the game, and the best reliever in the National League, Mark Melancon, was on the bump ... Read More
Pirate Pitching Knocked by Reds in 10 – 3 Loss
Follow @TBerardi_OVA Jeff Locke couldn't get off to a good start and the Reds took advantage as they chased him after five runs in one inning as the Reds cruised to a 10- 3 victory on the final home date of the season for the Pirates. Locke got Billy Hamilton to ground out to lead off the game, but allowed a single, two walks, a double and a homer to put the Pirates in an early hole that they could not dig themselves out of. "Everything happened pretty fast," said Locke. "I think as a ... Read More
Pirate of the Week: Jose Tabata
As the season winds down, the Pittsburgh Pirates find themselves battling for a Wild Card spot and possibly a division title. Going forward, it will take a team effort to push ahead. Jose Tabata showed this past week that he could be one of those guys to step up. Tabata had a solid week, hitting .389 while driving in six runs for the Pirates. Let's break down his week as the Pirates went 3-3 from Saturday to Friday. 9/14: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 Run, 1 RBI - Tabata's solo shot tied the game at 1-1 in the ... Read More
Bucs Bounce Back Behind Burnett 4 – 2
Follow @TBerardi_OVA A.J. Burnett followed Liriano's strong start with one of his own, but this time the Pirates held on to their lead for a pivotal 4 - 2 victory over the Reds on Saturday night. For the second time in this series, the Reds struck in the first when Brandon Phillips singled and scored on a Ryan Ludwick RBI single. That single would put runners on first and second with one out, but Burnett would induce an inning-ending double play to get out of the jam. The other run he gave ... Read More
Pirates Gameday: Burnett Looks to Bounce Back Bucs
Follow @TBerardi_OVA The Pirates (88 - 66) look to bounce back after another stunning loss to the Reds (88 - 66). A.J. Burnett (8 - 11, 3.43 ERA) faces Homer Bailey (11 - 10, 3.40 ERA) Leading Off With five games remaining between the Pirates and Reds, the season series stands at 7 - 7. If neither can catch the Cardinals, the winner of the season series will host the wild card game. Hurdle's Quotes On having a guy like A.J. Burnett pitch in a bounce back game after a tough loss -- "He's ... Read More
Pirates Blow Ninth Inning Lead, Lose in 10
The Reds scored three unearned runs in the ninth off of Mark Melancon following a Jordy Mercer throwing error and one in the tenth to stun the Pirates and their sellout crowd 6 - 5 on Friday night. The loss erased an amazing performance by Francisco Liriano, who threw eight innings of two-run, three-hit ball while striking out seven. "I felt fine," said Liriano. "I was locating my pitches where I wanted to and made some adjustments on my pitches and put us in position to win the ball game. ... Read More