Oftentimes in baseball, fans rely on the big name hitters to come through for them. The pitchers sometimes go unnoticed in big game situations. This week, the Pittsburgh Pirates squared off with their division rival for one of the biggest series in the history of PNC Park. They took four of five from the St. Louis Cardinals, with possibly the biggest win coming on the shoulders of Brandon Cumpton. Cumpton pitched 7.0 near perfect innings on Tuesday night, picking up the first win of his career. ... Read More
Cole Solid, But Offense Stalls In 4-2 Loss
(Photo Credit: Gene J. Puskar) PNC Park – Gerrit Cole pitched a solid five innings of work, but he and reliever Justin Wilson couldn’t get out of the sixth as the Rockies scored three times en-route to a 4 – 2 victory on Friday night. Cole retired ten of the first eleven batters he faced with the only hit coming from a Troy Tulowitzki solo shot in the second inning. He would then allow two batters to reach with one out in the fourth before getting the next two batters to strike out. He ... Read More
Pirates Gameday: Hughes Activated, Hurdle Talks Morton
PNC Park – The Pirates (65 – 43), fresh off of taking 4-of-5 from the Cardinals, take the field tonight to start a 3-game set against the Rockies (51 – 59). Gerrit Cole (5 – 4, 3.56 ERA) will go against Jhoulys Chacin (9 – 5, 3.54 ERA). Leading Off Jared Hughes has been activated from the 15-day DL and will be in the Shark Tank tonight. Vic Black has been optioned back to AAA Indianapolis to make room for Hughes on the 25-man roster. Manager, Clint Hurdle says it’s more based on availability ... Read More
Pirates Pitching Gets Rocked, Offense Stalls In 13 – 0 Defeat
(Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sport) PNC Park – The Cardinals took out their recent frustrations on Charlie Morton and Co. as they put across 13 runs on 17 hits in a 13 - 0 victory over the Bucs on Thursday night to salvage a game in the 5-game set. Charlie Morton only allowed a run through three innings before falling apart in the fourth. He would load the bases with no out by way of a walk to Allen Craig and singles to Matt Holliday and David Freese. Jon Jay would then be hit ... Read More
Currently, the Steelers are the worst pro team in Pittsburgh
Okay, stop me if you've heard this one before. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the worst professional team in Pittsburgh. Wait, what? Trust me, as weird as it is for you to read that, it felt just as weird typing it. I know it won't sit well and it's a cardinal rule in the Steel City to write anything bad about the Steelers, but there's no denying the truth. In the past year, the Steelers have been the worst professional team. Now, let me save you the trouble. When I say professional team, I'm not ... Read More
Pirates Lineup: Why Change a Good Thing?
Francisco Liriano and Russell Martin have been Neil Huntington's best pickups of the season (Flickr.com/Paul Hadsall) Earlier this month, I wrote an article looking into what type of players the Pittsburgh Pirates should have been targeting at the Trade Deadline. The most pressing need I was focused on was adding a consistent bat off the bench in a player such as Raul Ibanez or a consistent everyday player in Hunter Pence. While I still think each of these players would have brought a new ... Read More
Pirates Gameday: Sanchez Talks Nerves, Hurdle Updates On Wandy
(Photo Credit: UPI/Archie Carpenter) PNC Park – The Pirates (65 – 42) look for a rare 5-game sweep of the second place Cardinals (62 – 44) tonight as Charlie Morton (3 – 2, 3.59 ERA) faces Joe Kelly (1 – 3, 3.44 ERA). Leading Off Tony Sanchez will get the start at catcher tonight as Clint Hurdle is giving Russell Martin a day off to rest his sore knee. Sanchez says things have finally sunk in for him being a Pirate. “It sunk in the second day I was here when me and Vic (Black) we’re walking ... Read More
Pirates Come From Behind, Beat Cardinals 5 – 4
PNC Park – Russell Martin hit an eighth inning RBI single to complete a Pirates comeback in which they were down two runs on two different occasions on Wednesday night. The Battlin’ Bucs trailed 2 – 1 after an inning, 3 – 1 after 2 ½ and 4 – 2 after 3 1/2, but they stayed resilient as they answered each Cardinal run with one of their own to make it 3 – 2 and 4 – 3. It was an off night for Jeff Locke as he faced 5+ batters in each of the four innings that he pitched. The Cardinals got on ... Read More
Pirates acquire Robert Andino from Mariners for PTBNL
Although the deadline passed, news of a trade broke through in the middle of the Pirates-Cardinals game. #Mariners complete Minor League trade of infielder Robert Andino to Pirates for player to be named.— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) August 1, 2013 Greg Johns, Mariners reporter for MLB.com, first broke the news that the Pirates and Mariners have agreed on a trade that would send the 29-year-old Andino to the Pirates. Andino has a slash line of .184/.253/.237 in 29 games this year, ... Read More
Bucco Gameday: Huntington Talks Deadline, McKenry Shut Down For Season
PNC Park – The Pirates (64 – 42), fresh off of a sweep of yesterday’s double header, look to make it four in-a-row over the Cardinals (62 – 43) and extend their NL Central lead to 2 ½ games. Jeff Locke (9 – 3, 2.15 ERA) will take on Adam Wainwright (13 – 6, 2.51 ERA). 4pm today marked the non-waiver trade deadline for the MLB and the Pirates have appeared to remain in-tact as they did not make any moves before the deadline. Neil Huntington talked about not making a move: “We looked ... Read More